An ambulance driver who faced prosecution after she ran a red light at 10mph while responding to a 999 call in Aberdeen is fighting for greater protection for emergency services crews.
Kristine Hutchison was landed with a hefty legal bill after the case against her was brought to court.
The careless driving charges were dropped just 45 minutes before she was due to go on trial.
But the single mother-of-two still had to find £780 to cover the cost of preparing her defence.
Now she is calling for more support to be provided to fellow emergency services drivers who face prosecution for doing their jobs.
Miss Hutchison, who earns £11 an hour, said: “I knew from the very beginning that I would have to get my own solicitor, because they told me that it was up to me, I was on my own.
“I’m trying to get things to change so that this doesn’t happen to anybody else in the future. The support on offer is just counselling, which isn’t enough. That’s what I’m in the process of trying to change.”
The north-east ambulance technician faced an agonising eight-month wait for her case to be brought to court.
She had been on her way to an emergency when she drove through a red light in the city at less than 10mph.
The ambulance’s flashing blue lights and sirens were on – but it collided with an oncoming car, which failed to stop or pull over to let it pass.
The accident happened at the junction of Beechgrove Terrace and Rosemount Place in Aberdeen in October 2013.
Miss Hutchison, from Stonehaven, said the threat of legal action was “very stressful” and could have wrecked her career.
“In the run-up to the court case I was losing sleep. I had not been threatened with losing my job but if I lost my driver’s licence I would not be able to continue with it,” she said.
“I was shocked that the legal representation wasn’t handled by the NHS.
“I was under the impression that when you wore the uniform and drove the ambulance you did so under the responsibility of the Scottish Ambulance Service – but when a criminal case is involved they do not take you on.”
The Scottish Ambulance Service said support mechanisms were available to staff who found themselves in such situations, however Miss Hutchison said she was offered only counselling – and no help with legal costs.
Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald has vowed to back her demands and has written to Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland raising concerns about the difficulties facing police officers and fire and rescue crews.
Mr Macdonald said: “Her employer didn’t give her any legal advice or financial support to meet her costs, and that’s extraordinary.
“I would expect the police, fire and ambulance services to get behind their staff when their staff are doing their jobs to the best of their abilities, especially when Miss Hutchison was clearly in the right and has not done anything she should not have done.
“She was only in that position because she was in a job, working for them, to the best of her ability.
“Their staff should not be left our of pocket, or facing unnecessary legal pressure when all they have done is what is expected of them.”
Tommy Campbell of the Unite union said crews should not have to “face huge legal bills when all they are doing is driving as safely and quickly as possible on a 999 blue light emergency call”.
The case against Miss Hutchison was dropped less than a month after policeman John Kearney was granted an absolute discharge by a sheriff.
The firearms officer had been accused of driving dangerously across the north-east while responding to two 999 calls.
However, Sheriff Annella Cowan said members of the emergency services should be exempt from certain road traffic laws when dealing with a serious risk to life.