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20/02/2007
Crackdown on obstruction of emergency workers
New rules to crack down on people who obstruct emergency workers trying to carry out their jobs come into force today.
The new offences mean that anyone who gets in the way of an emergency worker responding to an emergency situation can now be prosecuted and fined up to £5,000.
The emergency workers covered by the new offence are firefighters, ambulance workers, people transporting blood, organs or equipment on behalf of the NHS, coastguards and lifeboat crews.
Police and prison officers are not covered by the new offence as there is already a separate law protecting them from obstruction.
The offence applies to England and Wales, and also in Northern Ireland, with the exception of firefighters.
Home Office Minister Gerry Sutcliffe said: "The government is committed to ensuring the safety of those serving their communities. Too often emergency workers are unable to get to incidents as quickly as they should due to a minority of people obstructing their rescue efforts.
"This seriously impacts on both the emergency workers' ability to do their jobs effectively and, even more worryingly, on those who require an emergency response. In some instance, a delay of just a couple of minutes can have terrible consequences.
"Such behaviour will not be tolerated and deliberate attempts to obstruct or prevent emergency workers, or anyone assisting them, from doing their very difficult jobs, will face a stiff penalty."
(KMcA/EF)
The new offences mean that anyone who gets in the way of an emergency worker responding to an emergency situation can now be prosecuted and fined up to £5,000.
The emergency workers covered by the new offence are firefighters, ambulance workers, people transporting blood, organs or equipment on behalf of the NHS, coastguards and lifeboat crews.
Police and prison officers are not covered by the new offence as there is already a separate law protecting them from obstruction.
The offence applies to England and Wales, and also in Northern Ireland, with the exception of firefighters.
Home Office Minister Gerry Sutcliffe said: "The government is committed to ensuring the safety of those serving their communities. Too often emergency workers are unable to get to incidents as quickly as they should due to a minority of people obstructing their rescue efforts.
"This seriously impacts on both the emergency workers' ability to do their jobs effectively and, even more worryingly, on those who require an emergency response. In some instance, a delay of just a couple of minutes can have terrible consequences.
"Such behaviour will not be tolerated and deliberate attempts to obstruct or prevent emergency workers, or anyone assisting them, from doing their very difficult jobs, will face a stiff penalty."
(KMcA/EF)
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Northern Ireland WeatherThis Evening and Tonight:It will be cloudy with a spell of heavy rain pushing south through late evening and the early hours, soon followed by some clear spells. Minimum temperature 6 °C.
