Marathon cancelled after safety plan drawn up by bogus medic

A marathon in Friesland has had to be cancelled at the last minute because organisers hired a bogus ambulance worker with no medical qualifications to draw up its safety plan.

The municipal council in Sneek withdrew the permit for the event on Saturday, June 20, after discovering that the company that submitted the plan was owned by a 22-year-old nursing student who was given a 15-month jail sentence for posing as an emergency worker.

The man was prosecuted after he and another man treated a woman who fell unwell and tried to take her to hospital during the Sneekweek community festival last August.

First aid responders who arrived on the scene quickly realised the duo were not trained medical staff and alerted police, who reported them to the prosecution service.

Organisers of the Sneek marathon were unaware the fraudster was behind MSG Ambulancenzorg, the company that drew up the safety plan for the event, until police in Groningen alerted council officials.

“We received a good healthcare plan and the council and the organisers were both unpleasantly surprised to find out who had drawn up the healthcare plan,” the council said in a statement.

Marianne Bouwman, one of the organisers, added: “Obviously we are hugely shocked by this. There were no signs anything was wrong based on the information we had.”

Fake ambulance

The marathon has been postponed until the autumn, on a date yet to be determined. Runners who have signed up for the race will be automatically registered for the new event.

The man was convicted in March of pretending to be an ambulance worker, driving bogus emergency vehicles without authorisation, forging documents and stealing equipment including uniforms, walkie-talkies and a Red Cross defibrillator.

He drove a yellow Mercedes Sprinter van with the word Ambulance on the front and equipped with blue lights and sirens to resemble a genuine vehicle.

He was also convicted of breach of the peace for forcing his way into the Frisius MC hospital in Sneek to try to obtain medical equipment, shortly after he had tried to treat the woman at the Sneekweek event.

On other occasions he treated a woman who fell in Groningen and sent a fake medical document to her doctor, and posed as a police officer at the scene of a traffic accident.

The court was told he was studying nursing, but was unable to continue his studies or find an internship because of his illegal activities. A psychologist said it was likely he had an autism spectrum disorder.

He has yet to serve his prison sentence because he is appealing against the conviction. The judge also banned him from working in medical care for three years and ordered him to undergo psychological treatment.