cambs.com

An outgoing police chief has criticised an extradition system which allowed a German doctor to evade a British trial after he accidentally killed a patient.

Dr Daniel Ubani was working for an out-of-hours medical service in 2008 when he gave 70-year-old David Gray a fatal injection in Cambridgeshire.

Dr Ubani could not be dealt with by English courts as he had been given a suspended sentence in Germany.

Cambridgeshire Chief Constable Julie Spence said this left her “gobsmacked”.

Dr Ubani’s lawyers had argued that he should not be extradited to the UK as his case had already been dealt with in Germany.

‘Distressing to officers’

He was given a nine-month suspended sentence and ordered to pay 5,000 euro (£4,100) in costs after being charged with death by negligence.

Cambridgeshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service failed in their attempt to have Dr Ubani brought back to the UK to face prosecution.

Ms Spence, who retires on Sunday, said: “It was deeply distressing for myself and officers to understand that all the hard effort and work that they actually put in to investigate that case was in some way circumvented by the German authorities.

“There is something wrong with a process that allows that to happen and I think there are deep discussions required between members countries to ensure that doesn’t happen again.

“We shouldn’t have something which circumvents justice being done.”

Questions have been raised about the working of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) after the dispute between the British and German authorities over the Dr Ubani case.

The Home Office is reviewing extradition arrangements.

The review, which began in July, has looked in depth at the operation of the EAW.

A coroner recorded a verdict of unlawful killing at the inquest into Mr Gray’s death.

In June this year Dr Ubani was struck off by the the General Medical Council (GMC) in England because of its concerns over his competence and the possibility he could repeat his errors.

He continues to treat patients in Germany.

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Three cars, including a police car, crashed in Eastfield Road

Three men have been arrested after a high speed pursuit ended with a crash involving a police car and two other vehicles in the centre of Peterborough.

Armed officers arrested three men aged 19, 22 and 23 after the collision in Eastfield Road.

The 23-year-old – Rupert Ellis, of Haldane Place, London – has been charged with dangerous driving and aggravated vehicle taking.

He was also charged with driving whilst disqualified and without insurance.

The 19-year-old and 22-year-old have been released on police bail.

Police have started an inquiry into the crash, which happened after officers began following a stolen Hyundai car.

Driver ‘shaken’

A Cambridgeshire Police spokesman said: “Police began pursuing a vehicle that had failed to stop near Apex House, in Oundle Road, Peterborough, at about 1340 BST.

“The car was pursued along Fletton Avenue, Fletton High Street, London Road, over the River Nene and into Bishop’s Road and then Eastfield Road where it was in collision with a car being driven by a member of the public.

“The driver of this vehicle, a woman in her 30s, was shaken but not hurt.

“Two men were arrested on suspicion of robbery a short while later, and a third was also arrested on suspicion of robbery in the Oundle Road area.

“The arrests are in connection with a robbery of a car that took place in Muswell Road, West Town, on Monday 30 August.”

Mr Ellis was due before magistrates on Friday afternoon.

A person has been taken to hospital following a gas explosion at a Cambridgeshire home.

Significant damage was caused to the house on Bamber Street, Peterborough, shortly before 0020 BST on Friday, the fire service said.

Several properties were evacuated while firefighters contained the gas leak until engineers arrived.

One person was taken to hospital, a fire service spokesman said, but their condition is not known.

Three men and a teenager have been charged with false imprisonment and assault after an incident in Suffolk.

Two men in their 20s were driving from Mildenhall to Sedge Fen when they were subjected to assaults and abuse on Friday 20 August, police said.

Officers have arrested two Suffolk men, aged 18 and 20, and an 18-year-old and 16-year-old from Cambridgeshire in connection with the inquiry.

The four males are due before magistrates in Bury St Edmunds later.

A 22-year-old man from the Brandon area was also arrested in connection with the incident and has been released on police bail until 3 November.

A puppy had to be put to sleep after being found collapsed near garages in Peterborough.

The black and white “spaniel-type” dog was found on bank holiday Monday by a member of the public in Welland Road after being dumped there.

It was put to sleep by a vet, after an examination revealed it was suffering from a head trauma and was unable to stand on its own.

Anyone with information about the puppy is asked to call the RSPCA.

RSPCA inspector Kate Parfitt said: “It would have been impossible for this puppy to have been able to get into the area on its own, as it was collapsed and unable to walk.

“It had suffered some kind of head trauma, but the vet who examined it said it had not been involved in a road traffic accident.

“Had it not have been found by a member of the public it would have died a long, slow and painful death alone.”