A woman who deliberately blocked in an ambulance on an emergency call was fined £500 yesterday.

Gillian Birdsall, 50, had a long dispute with her neighbour, Malcolm Burdett, over parking in their shared driveway. When she arrived home to find an ambulance there, she parked in the way and refused to let it leave for ten minutes, even though Mr Burdett, 62, was critically ill in the back. He died later in hospital.

Bournemouth magistrates were told that when a paramedic asked Birdsall to move her car, she asked whether the Burdetts had died.

The ambulance was called to Mr Burdett’s house, in Bournemouth, on October 31 last year after he complained of chest pains. As he was being wheeled out of his house with his wife, Margaret, by his side, Birdsall returned to pick up her pet dogs and take them for a walk.

Charlie Butterworth, for the prosecution, said that Anna Mills, an emergency care assistant, saw that Birdsall’s car was in the way. “She approached Mrs Birdsall and asked her how long she would be because they needed to move the ambulance,” Mrs Butterworth said. “As Miss Mills told her that she needed to move the vehicle, the defendant answered, ‘Why, are they dead?’

“The ambulance crew were obstructed in carrying out their duty in an emergency. It was deliberate, obstructive and calculated to be difficult. Her actions both caused an obstruction and hindered them in their work. The defendant was comprehensively informed that it was an emergency vehicle, she had every opportunity to see the vehicle and move hers out of the way. She had no excuse.”

Miss Mills said that the ambulance had been delayed by five or ten minutes. “I would have been able to get the medication quicker and we would have left the scene quicker if it wasn’t for that.”

It was not suggested that Birdsall’s actions were responsible for Mr Burdett’s death.

Birdsall, who works part-time in Asda, told police that she had not realised that it was an emergency and that the ambulance was on her “private” part of the drive. She said: “Then this young lady came out and said, ‘Are you going to be moving, darling?’ When she called me darling, that irritated me. I am ashamed of the fact I did say, ‘Is anybody dead’, but at that time I was angry.”

Mr Burdett, a piano teacher, and his wife had lived in their house for 32 years. Birdsall moved next door seven years ago and problems quickly arose over parking.

Birdsall denied obstructing ambulance staff but was found guilty. Jeremy Vooght, the presiding magistrate, said: “Her explanation lacks any credibility.”

Times Recommends

• Oh no, Mr Darling: you have failed
• BBC survives dogfight over Kennel Club expose
• Where the Rosetta belongs can’t be set in stone