An ambulance driver has admitted causing the deaths of a patient and another motorist in a head-on collision just before Christmas last year. Julie Ijere, 59, appeared at Suffolk Magistrates Court this week on crutches, where she pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving.
The collision
The court heard that Ijere was driving a Fiat Patient Transport Ambulance on the B1506 between Kentford and Newmarket in Suffolk at around 7.30pm on December 19, 2023. She allowed the vehicle to drift into the opposite lane, where it struck a blue Volkswagen Golf driven by Jane Blampied, 70, head-on.
Anthony Dawbarn, 93, who was a patient in the ambulance, and Ms Blampied, an employee of a solicitor's firm, were both seriously injured. They were treated at the scene and taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, where they died two days later.
Driver's condition
Ijere, of Stowmarket, was also seriously injured in the crash and was treated at the same hospital before being released early in the new year. The other patient in the ambulance suffered only minor injuries.
The court was told that Ijere's driving fell 'just below the threshold for dangerous driving'. The magistrates requested an 'all options' report from the Probation Service, which will consider the possibility of a prison term. Ijere was warned she could be jailed, and if the magistrates consider the maximum 12-month sentence insufficient, the case will be sent to Ipswich Crown Court for sentencing.
Victim tributes
Ms Blampied's daughter, Sara, paid an emotional tribute on social media, describing her mother as 'a warrior' who fought until the end. 'Sadly our mum, wife to Simon, Jane Blampied was suddenly taken from us in a serious car collision,' she wrote. 'She was fighting until the end like the warrior that she is but sadly her internal injuries were too severe and we had to make the decision to turn off her life support.'
Ms Blampied worked at Newmarket-based law firm Edmonson Hall, which posted a tribute online and announced plans to raise money for the East Anglian Air Ambulance in her memory.
The case has been adjourned until next month for sentencing.
