Drinker killed by ambulance after wine tasting event

A MAN who was knocked down and killed by an ambulance had staggered into a dual carriageway after a wine tasting, an inquest has heard.

Adrian Bourne was hit by the emergency vehicle responding to a 999 call that was travelling at slightly above the 60mph speed limit.

Mr Bourne’s father questioned evidence given to the hearing in Oxford, claiming the ambulance should have been going slower because it was dark and the road conditions were damp.

However, a collision expert said the 5mph above the speed limit the vehicle was travelling at would have made little difference to its stopping distance.

Matt Curd, the paramedic who was driving the South Central Ambulance Service vehicle, told the coroner the incident happened in the early hours of the morning on Nov 29 last year on the A34 dual carriageway in Oxford.

In a statement read to the inquest, Mr Curd said: “I checked both wing mirrors and as I returned my eyes to the road I saw a person immediately in front of us.”

Nicholas Graham, assistant Oxfordshire coroner, heard that Mr Bourne, from Chippenham, Wiltshire, had been intoxicated after an evening at a winetasting event for a construction firm.

He had been taken back to his hotel by a taxi. However, he did not go to his room but walked off.

One of his friends told the coroner: “Adrian was quite drunk, although he had eaten a kebab.”

In his conclusion, Mr Graham said he was “not convinced that the [ambulance’s] speed was a significant factor”.