A driver who deliberately blocked an ambulance by straddling lanes, sitting across a junction and pulling in front of them has been convicted of dangerous driving and obstructing/hindering an emergency worker. Albert Butler, 38, of Windermere Road, Reading, admitted the offences in a hearing at Reading Magistrates' Court.
He has been sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 18 months, ordered to complete 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 200 hours of unpaid work over an 18-month period. Butler was also banned from driving for three years and given costs of £600.
On Wednesday, February 2 this year, paramedics in a marked ambulance for South Central Ambulance Service were driving along the A4 Bath Road, Reading towards Maidenhead, responding to a medical emergency of a collapsed man. The driver had activated emergency equipment on the ambulance, which included the lights and sirens.
