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Kevin Theake was caught on a speed camera whilst following an ambulance which was taking his daughter, Sophie to hospital after she had a fit in the shower.

A WORRIED dad was caught speeding as he tried to keep up with an ambulance taking his seriously ill daughter to hospital.

Kevin Theake’s daughter Sophie, 25, had taken ill and started having fits at their home in Fence Houses.

Her family called 999 and an ambulance took her to Sunderland Royal Hospital – followed by Kevin in his Toyota Celica.

But the 56-year-old was caught on the fixed speed camera in Durham Road, driving at 39 miles per hour in a 30mph zone.

The family’s ordeal began when Kevin, a teamleader at Wessington Cryogenics, heard a noise from the bathroom on August 20.

“The sound I heard her make in the shower, it took me over a week to get over it. It was like a horrible moan,” Kevin said.

“She was in a really bad state, I thought I’d lost her.

“She stopped breathing for a couple of seconds. I went and grabbed her. She was in a very stiff position. It was like taking a doll out of the shower.”

After rushing to Sophie’s aid, he shouted for wife Susan, 53, to call 999.

“I was screaming at my wife to get an ambulance. I thought that was it. Her heart rate was 130 when the paramedics arrived.”

Sophie’s boyfriend Tony Thompson, 28, travelled in the ambulance with Sophie, while her brother Curtis, 21, followed in his van.

But it was a panicked Kevin with Susan in the car who got caught speeding, landing him with a £100 fine and three penalty points.

“We went past the college,” he said. “I know there is a camera there. I was doing 39 and I realised I got flashed.”

Kevin has since written to Northumbria Police’s fixed penalty unit, pleading for leniency given the circumstances, but has been told that the ticket cannot be cancelled. “I even sent Sophie’s armband to prove she had been in hospital and the parking ticket from 10pm until 2am,” he added. “If I had been doing 90mph, I would have held my hands up. The police always ask for the public’s help, but what about when we need their help?”

But Kevin praised the paramedics as ‘brilliant’ and Sophie, who has been diagnosed as epileptic, is now back at work as a steward.

“She seems ok, she is a little bit concerned,” Kevin added. “They have given her tablets and she’ll have to take them for the rest of her life.”

Northumbria Police Temporary Chief Inspector John Heckels said: “While we understand and sympathise with Mr Theake’s situation, there is a specific process in place for motorists to challenge speeding enforcement.

“He now has the option of accepting the ticket, attending a speed awareness course or challenging the fixed penalty notice in the magistrates court, where he’ll be able to put forward his specific circumstances for consideration.”

http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/l...hter-1-6868875

They should have cancelled the ticket