A London Ambulance Service paramedic is accused of killing a motorcyclist in a crash after he skipped a red light on the wrong side of the road near to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, a court heard.
Robbie Curry, 34, was responding to a 999 call with a paramedic colleague when their emergency vehicle was in a collison with Hamed Najar’s motorbike shortly before 9pm on January 15, 2021.
Southwark crown court heard Curry had just left the hospital when he drove on to the wrong side of the road to pass a line of stationary traffic.
He is accused of not braking as he ran a red light and entered a box junction in Fulham Road, just as Mr Najar legally entered the junction and ran into the side of the ambulance.
Curry and his colleague treated Mr Najar, who was in his 20s, at the roadside, but he died from his injuries later in hospital.
Curry is now on trial, accused of causing death by careless driving.
“The case is about a fatal road traffic collision that took place on January 15, 2021 when an ambulance driven by the defendant was involved in a collision with a motorcycle driven by the deceased”, said prosecutor Fiona Robertson.
“The defendant was responding to an emergency call and he passed through a red traffic light on the wrong side of the road into a box junction on Fulham Road.
“As he passed into the box junction, a collision occurred between the ambulance and the motorcycle.”
Ms Robertson said the ambulance’s internal CCTV showed how Curry had manoeuvred around stationary traffic, remained on the wrong side of the road, and was travelling at around 17-18mph when he entered the box junction.
The court heard the paramedic’s call out was low-level for a 999 alert, requiring a response within two hours. Curry had put his siren and blue lights on.
“Ambulance drivers perform an essential, admirable, and difficult role in our health service”, said the prosecutor.
“They are exempt from certain rules of the road when responding to certain emergency calls.”
But she added: “That does not give them impunity to driver however they wish.”
Jurors were told Mr Najar had traces of cannabis in his system and was speeding at the time of the crash, and he may be blamed for the crash in Curry’s defence case.
But Ms Robertson said Curry is accused of failing to return to the correct lane when he entered the box junction, not braking at all before the crash, and not giving way to other traffic when he ran the red light.
Curry, from Stanstead Abbotts in Hertfordshire, denies causing death by careless driving.
The trial continues.
