blood sample, technical issues

[Barnabie]

I have a question regarding a technical issue. I had a sample of blood taken by a police doctor whilst I was in hospital. The sample was taken from a cannula, which had been inserted by a paramedic some five hours earlier. The cannula had been used for administration of intravenous morphine before the blood sample was taken.

I was unable to give my consent for blood to be taken at the time, however, both my father and partner were present at the hospital, but they weren't asked for consent to take a sample. They were forced to wait for several hours for the police doctor to arrive and take a sample before being allowed to see me, even though my life was in the balance, and I could very easily have died.

The doctor has stated that he had to use the cannula, as there was no other viable way of drawing blood, as I was in such a critical condition.

The prosecution have a well known expert who says that the method of obtaining the blood sample should not matter, and that BMI guidelines are just guidelines, and any infringement wouldn't affect the result of the test.

My blood reading was 89mg

Would there be any point in contesting this?

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

Quite simply you would need your own expert to review the matter and to comment upon the method used to obtain the blood sample. Without having seen any of the papers on the matter I'm afraid that I cannot say whether the issue could amount to a defence, either on a legal or medical technicality. To accurately assess your case and whether you would have any reasonable prospects of defending the matter I would need to carry out a full review of all the prosecution paperwork and quite likely discuss the issue with a medical expert as well.

If this is something you are interested in pursuing, or you are looking for representation then you are welcome to contact my department on 0333 999 7158.