THE family of a man who died while being attended to by paramedics – who were later convicted of failing to provide “reasonable” care – have described the “frustrating” and “devastating” impact of legal proceedings and “horrible” public comments.
Frazer Irvine died in March 2022, after he called 999 following a suspected overdose.
Attending paramedics Tom Le Sauteur and John Sutherland were last month found guilty by Jurats in the Royal Court of a health and safety breach in relation to their response.
The court head that, having become aggressive and saying he did not want help from the paramedics, Mr Irvine later died of cardiac and respiratory arrest while he was in the paramedics’ care.
The Jurats found that delays in delivering care on the night were “unreasonable”.
Both paramedics have told the JEP that they will be appealing against their convictions. The pair were given two-year conditional discharges this week.
They have received a notable amount of public support, including a fundraiser that was launched to help finance their legal fees.
So far, £47,000 has been raised.
One of Britain’s biggest unions, Unite, has also called for a full judicial review of the case.
In a statement provided to the Health and Safety Inspectorate on 10 July, and recently released to the JEP by the Law Officers’ Department, Linda Irvine – Mr Irvine’s mother – said she had found the trial “very depressing and frustrating”.
She explained: “I felt that it was a character assassination on Frazer because we could not speak up for him.
“One of the over-riding feelings was one of intimidation with the court being packed every day by paramedics in uniform who seemed oblivious to the facts or who were not willing to listen to the facts.
“I felt at times as if Frazer was on trial.”
While Ms Irvine said she felt it was “commendable that [Mr Le Sauteur and Mr Sutherland’s] colleagues supported them”, she said she hoped at least “some” of those who sat through the trial would “reflect on the verdict and agree that the care was totally inadequate”.
She also said the public reaction to the case had been difficult for the family, noting that comments on social media had been “horrible and devastating to read” and “very upsetting for our daughter”.
“They have described Frazer as a drug addict … but if [they] had heard the evidence [they] would have realised that this was far from the truth.”
Ms Irvine said her son was a “beautiful young man with half of his life left”.
