An appeals court has upheld the verdict of two paramedics found guilty of not caring properly for a man who died after taking drugs.
John Sutherland, 62, and technician Tom Le Sauteur, 36, were found guilty in June of failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of Frazer Irvine, 39, who had a heart attack following a drugs overdose in Jersey on 18 March 2022.
The incident happened while paramedics and police were at Mr Irvine’s home in Trinity, with Mr Le Sauteur and Mr Sutherland each sentenced to a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £500 in costs.
Jersey’s Court of Appeal upheld the verdict the two medics had not given him reasonable care.
At the trial in June, it was ruled Mr Le Sauteur and Mr Sutherland had waited too long to treat Mr Irvine or not acted quickly enough when they thought he might have been having a heart attack.
The court saw body camera footage from a police officer that showed the two men putting on protective equipment before preparing to move Mr Irvine into the ambulance after he passed out.
He had a heart attack and died.
Appeal judge Sir Adrian Fulford said the court had no hesitation in upholding the verdict and the police camera footage showed that it had been an “overwhelming” case by the prosecution.
He said both men had “displayed a noticeable lack of urgency” and they had missed some “critical signs” that Mr Irvine was deteriorating.
He also described Mr Le Sauteur’s actions as “lackadaisical”.
