A young man has successfully appealed to reduce his prison sentence after causing the death of a father by pushing him into the path of an ambulance that was responding to an emergency call.
Lewis Budge, aged 22, shoved Robert Bromell, causing him to lose his balance and stumble back on the Corran Esplanade in Oban on September 6, 2023. The tragic incident occurred after the two men, who had been separately socializing at the Markie Dans bar, engaged in a conversation outside the pub.
Mr. Bromell, aged 39, was struck by the ambulance and sustained severe injuries that led to his passing at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, Renfrewshire the following day. The ambulance, with its blue lights on but without sirens, was obscured from view by parked cars, resulting in the tragic accident.
Initially taken to The Lorne and Islands Hospital in Oban, Mr. Bromell was later transferred to the Royal Alexandria Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Budge had previously been sentenced to six years in prison in February after pleading guilty to culpable homicide at the High Court in Glasgow.
During the appeal hearing in Edinburgh, Budge’s legal team argued that the initial sentence was excessive, emphasizing that the level of violence involved was minimal. They highlighted assessments that deemed Budge to pose a low risk of reoffending and to have expressed deep remorse for his actions.
Following the appeal, the original sentence was overturned, and Budge was re-sentenced to four years in prison. The judges acknowledged the remorse shown by Budge and the circumstances surrounding the incident, ultimately leading to the reduced sentence.