Stuart Minting

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Latest articles from Stuart Minting

Adam Johnson sentencing as it happened

Stuart Minting reports live from Bradford Crown Court where former Sunderland footballer has been today jailed six years for sexual activity with a child.

Healthcare blunders led to stolen ambulance crashing into double-decker bus

BLUNDERS by healthcare professionals led to a mental health patient driving a stolen ambulance for 15 miles along a major trunk road before crashing head-on into a double-decker coach, an inquest has concluded. Coroner Michael Oakley said Michael South, who had stabbed himself in the chest four days before the fatal incident on the A64, north-west of York, had been incorrectly judged to be suitable for an unsupervised transfer by private ambulance to Bootham psychiatric unit in the city. The four-day hearing at Bedale Hall heard despite witnesses having seen the 40-year-old father speeding up and slowing down and swerving violently into the path of a Coastliner bus on April 10, there was insufficient evidence to find it had been suicide or an accident. Recording an open conclusion, Mr Oakley said: "If he had wanted to kill himself the easiest way would have been to run into the middle of the road. "He has not done this, he has driven off, and albeit that some of his driving was erratic, the ambulance has not been driven into anything else up to the site of the collision. "The driving may have been erratic as he was not wearing shoes and clearly he was sedated to some extent." The hearing had been told earlier how the ERS Medical ambulance crew ran for their lives after Mr South said he was hearing voices, grabbed the wheel of the vehicle on the dual carriageway and drove off "aggressively" ahead of the 34mph crash. Despite just hours before the incident a doctor in Leeds finding Mr South was at risk of suicide and might be a risk to others, nursing staff who had no experience of arranging transport for mental health patients booked an ambulance in the mistaken belief ERS had conducted a full risk assessment. Mr Oakley said ERS staff had been instructed to ask a limited number of questions when assessing mental health patients' transport needs, which led directly to him being allocated a vehicle with a driver and assistant, neither of whom had mental health training. He added: "I accept that the situation is unlikely to arise again due to new procedures and protocols by both the hospital and ERS." After the inquest, a spokesman for the Leeds and York trusts apologised to Mr South's widow, Lucy, and son, Ryan, six for their failings. In a statement, Mrs South said her husband had not been given the help he needed after suffering a serious mental health relapse. She added: "I hope that system changes will protect vulnerable people like Michael and the wider public."