Father demands ambulance answers

Mr King's parents want to know why the ambulance never arrived

The father of a man seriously assaulted in a Lincolnshire town is demanding to know why an ambulance was not sent to the attack scene.

Robert King, 20, from Fulstow, suffered serious head injuries when he was attacked by six men in Louth in the early hours of 29 July 2007.

Four police officers took Mr King to hospital in Louth.

East Midlands Ambulance Service said it stood down paramedics on the instructions of the police.

Lincolnshire Police confirmed they had called for an ambulance for Mr King but were told there were none available. As Mr King's condition deteriorated, officers at the scene told police control that they would take him to hospital and ambulance control was updated.

Det Ch Insp Andy West said: "We firmly believe that we did all we could to ensure Robert received the urgent medical attention he clearly needed.

"Leaving him lying on the street until an ambulance arrived was clearly not an option for our officers, who were very concerned and wanted to do the best for him."

Double vision

Robert's father David King said: "Robert was beaten up and he lay in the gutter. We were told he was taken to hospital in a van because there were no ambulances available."

The ambulance service said: "We stood down the ambulance that had been dispatched as we had received a message from the police saying they did not want to wait for it to arrive but would transport Robert instead."

The statement said a paramedic met the victim at Louth Hospital and an ambulance took him to Diana Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby for treatment.

United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust said it was unable to deal with Mr King's injuries but staff did have to resuscitate him before he was transferred to Grimsby Hospital by ambulance.

Mr King, a carpenter, was on his way home after a night out with friends when he was punched in the head and attacked. He was unconscious for 12 days.

He still suffers from double vision and is unable to drive. He has not yet returned to work.

Six men, aged between 20 and 23, were jailed on Friday at Lincoln Crown Court for their parts in the assault.