Officer escorts expectant mother to the hospital then slaps her husband with a speeding ticket

A police officer escorted an expectant mother to hospital just minutes before she gave birth - then slapped her husband with a ticket for speeding. John Coughlin was handed the penalty for driving 102mph in a 55mph zone as he rushed wife Angela to the delivery room of the Catholic Medical Centre in Manchester, New Hampshire. The trooper waited outside as the couple’s baby boy Kyle was born, six minutes after their arrival at the hospital, then pounced on the excited new father as he emerged to call relatives. 'He said two things, "Good news, congratulations on your son, and bad news, I’ ll see you in court",' said Mr Coughlin, who faces a fine of up to $1,000 at a hearing in Manchester District Court next week.



The high-speed dash took place in the early hours of September 18 last year, when Mrs Coughlin’s waters broke and her husband decided to save time by taking her to hospital himself instead of waiting for an ambulance. The trooper spotted him driving at speeds in excess of 100mph and tried to pull him over, at which point Mr Coughlin called 911 to explain why he was rushing. 'I’m being pulled over by a cop but my wife’s in labour,' he told dispatchers, with his wife's screams audible in the background. 'Her water just broke, I’m just on my way to the hospital,' he said.

The trooper then escorted the Coughlins’ car the rest of the way, with lights flashing, after learning the nature of the emergency on his radio. But he still decided to write the ticket once they reached the hospital. Senior officers on Tuesday confirmed that the unnamed trooper was not required to issue a court summons but said that he correctly used his discretion to do so because Mr Coughlin was driving dangerously. 'By his own actions, he put himself, his wife, his unborn child and the motoring public in a very dangerous situation,' said Major Russell Conte of New Hampshire State Police.


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He said that officers were sympathetic to people involved in medical emergencies but that 911 dispatchers were best placed to assist them quickly. Legal experts believe that Mr Coughlin, who plans to plead not guilty, is likely to win. 'This case shouldn’t go too far too fast,' defence lawyer Mark Stevens said. 'If the driver reasonably believes that he’s avoiding harm that’s greater than the one he creates, in other words if the birth of his baby is more important than a speeding ticket, then he has a justification to do that.'