An inquest in Newport today (Thursday June 24) heard how a professional golfer’s brother, who was high on a cocktail of drugs, lost control of his car and drove into the path of an emergency ambulance.

Robert Hammond, 53, a recovering alcoholic and father of one from Sandown was driving his best friend Jeremy Sutcliffe and his son Keegan to Ryde for a day out at the amusements when the crash occurred.

Hammond lost control of his Red Corolla at the Racecourse, Fairlee Road in Newport on November 1 last year and died from injuries sustained his subsequent crash with the ambulance.

The specialist paediatric ambulance (the only one in the whole of the South Central ambulance service) was operating its blue lights and sirens and had on board a premature baby who had been born at Southampton General Hospital just two days before.

A post mortem carried out on Mr. Hammond’s body found he had potentially fatal levels of amphetamine after a blood sample was analyzed.

This could have caused serious impairment the court was told by PC Robert Giles a specialist in driver impairment.

The coroner John Matthews cleared the ambulance driver, Paul Faithless, of any responsibility for the accident.

The verdict was death by misadventure.

Read the full story in next week’s Gazette.