idanthyrsus

That was the information that I received. Obviously along with a lot of other things it has not been officially reported. Sorry - it's a bit lame, but I can't say anything more than that. It's the problem when officials and those who do have the full story don't publish it. I heard directly from somebody that the rider refused to be treated, but that's not on the Berwich "whitewash".

Yes, we've all read it and if you bother to read the previous pages we've all commented on how it doesn't say anything with any conviction. It certainly doesn't mention any facts. So unless you want people to "tittle tattle" I suggest you make sure Berwick Speedway publishes a more comprehensive communication rather than attempting to fudge the issue and hope everybody doesn't examine it too closely. And it's not "being sad and little" to enquire how a person who is responsible for the lives of 14 professional sportsmen in a dangerous sport is unfit for duty such that one of the riders refused to be treated by him. A fairly pathetic post by all standards. Exactly, which is why I haven't said anything of that nature.

You might think that, but I couldn't possibly comment. I am used to preparing updates and project status reports to board level directors of blue chip companies though. That helps a bit

How do you know he didn't?

There are of course, numerous ways to stop all the speculation - something like this would work: "The Paramedic in question received some distressing personal news and reacted in an unforseen manner. The person in question was not under the influence of alcohol at the meeting. Richard Lawson quite correctly pointed out that the paramedic was behaving in an erratic manner, which he attributed incorrectly to the paramedic being under the influence of alcohol - this was in fact due to stress to the personal issue. We are going to review the situation and make any necessary changes to our match day operational procedures that we deem appropriate as a result of this highly unfortunate incident. We apologise for any inconvenience caused but especially to the supporters of both Berwick and Redcar Speedway teams who were at the match in question" This would pretty much put everything to bed - so the question has to be asked - why have they never denied that the paramedic was under the influence of alcohol?

You mean Berwick Speedway have attempted to brush the whole thing under the carpet? That's how it looks to a lot of folks.

Although I do believe there is a stock car meeting on the 19th July, so we can't get too complacent.

You missed the health and safety inspection.

More importantly - will their be medical cover available?

If the facts are not available then we can only take the known facts and attempt to map a logical and correct sequence of events that match the known facts. This is what is referred to as deduction. There are no legal repercussions in discussin an incident and putting forward an opinion based on the evidence available. As long as they are based as an opinion and not as factual evidence then we just about have the right to free speech. So saying that there are legal repercussions is factually incorrect.

Sorry - it was Richard Lawson. But why is it time to end the story? Obviously this event had a massive impact upon the match on Saturday night. If we don't know what caused the upset we can't fix it. Will the BSPA be informed? Will this potentially be used to make the sport safer and better in the future? Perhaps we should breathalyse all riders and safety officials prior to a match starting. There are many things to discuss and just because you don't want to discuss them for some reason is no reason for the debate to end. After all, one of the first rules of medicine is that if you don't know the cause, you can't find prescribe a cure. If you really don't want to discuss further, then simply don't read this thread. It's easily done, just don't click on it.

Nowhere on this statement does it state that the paramedic wasn't under the influence of alcohol. In fact it clearly states he was not suffering from a physical illness at all. He took a phone call and subsequently was unwell. A Berwick rider then tweeted that the paramedic was drunk. Would it not seem logical to say that the paramedic took a phone call, had a drink to calm himself down and then subsequently collapsed as a result. It's difficult to draw any conclusion from the statement from Berwick as it says a lot, but there's a lot it doesn't say which in itself, say's a lot.

They absolutely are - as the company in charge then any paid (or indeed unpaid) persons operating under their authority are their responsibility. If they failed to take due diligence as to whether persons under their control were fit and able to carry out their assigned duties then they are the ones liable for any litigation and/or law suits resulting as a result of said employee being unable to carry out their assigned duties.

And presumably if it wasn't down to illness then Berwick Speedway should be heavily fined and made to recompense those present?

As many defence lawyers have put forward when a celebrity has been charged with drink driving.

So, in essence, the paramedic was behaving erratically. One of the riders refused treatment from said paramedic because he looked drunk. The paramedic then collapsed. Richard Lawson tweeted that the paramedic was drunk. In America, they have a saying - "if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then the chances are, it's a duck". Good job this didn't happen in Newcastle as all the Berwick supported would have been up in arms about it, blaming the track and everything. I guess you reap what you sow.

Health and safety issues.

To correct your quote, it should be "You twist and turn like a twisty turny thing" Blackadder II - Beer. Nobody likes a pedant

Has anybody considered suing the Peterborough Speedway for loss of revenue? Demanding money back and expenses? Go via the small claims court and represent yourself. At least you'd get answers

What would a speedway team want with a turnip?

Perhaps their wives were discussing the riders apparel. .

Not a necessary change - they had R/R facility didn't they?

So what you are saying is that for the weather forecast on Sunday, we should watch countryfile on Sunday evening. I reckon I could possibly do a fair to middling weather forecast myself of Sunday if I were to transmit it on Sunday evening

Paulco - it's always good when a supporter can recognise when they were genuinely beaten, rather than blame it on bad luck / poor track / poor refereeing / etc. If all sides did the same and looked at themselves following a defeat and tried to work out why it went wrong and how they could be better next time I am sure they would be much better because of it. As Edinburgh are a "local" rival of the Diamonds and also have a similar track (which results in close scores) I sincerely hope the Monarchs continue to provide such excellent matches and I hope we actually win at home this time

Going from the hilarious text updates, I thought it was a shocking performance where one of the Newcastle Riders knocked of an opponent's chain with their back wheel on purpose. Followed by an appalling refereeing decision when a rider at the tapes left despite their only being 30 seconds to go. Makes it all worthwhile