Victim could lose leg after driver fell asleep at wheel
MAN IS SENTENCED FOR RUNNING INTO DOG WALKER WHO WAS LEFT WITH A SERIOUS INJURY AND HER PET HAD TO BE PUT TO SLEEP –
A DOG walker has had 10 operations and may yet have to have her leg amputated after being hit by a car driven by Clive Wilkins, who had fallen asleep at the wheel.
Her dog had to be put down after the crash after suffering catastrophic injuries when they were both hit by Wilkins’ car in Watery Lane, Scropton. The accident happened more than a year ago, a court heard.
Derby Crown Court heard how former Bombardier worker Wilkins fell asleep at the wheel, mounted the kerb and ploughed into the back of the victim.
His victim was knocked unconscious and next remembers coming round in hospital having suffered serious fractures to her leg which then became infected.
One of her pets also had to be put to sleep after suffering catastrophic injures from the force of the impact.
The brave victim came to court with a metal frame still around her leg more than a year after the collision.
Luc Chignell, prosecuting, read out her victim impact statement to the court.
In it she said: “It has turned my world upside down. I have so far had 10 operations on my leg and during one a surgeon had to manually break the bone under my knee to treat the infection.
“I have been told I may never run again and ultimately my leg could still be amputated.
“I have been housebound for most of my recovery and I will never understand how or why I was driven into.
“I have gone over it time and time again in my head asking ‘why did he not swerve? Why did he not brake?’”
Mr Chignell said the accident happened in Watery Lane, Scropton, at 4pm on January 10, last year.
He said the victim was walking her two dog when Wilkins, who worked for 36 years at the Litchurch Lane trainmaker, suddenly struck her and her pets from behind with his Toyota.
Mr Chignell said: “She was knocked unconscious and sadly one of the dogs had to be put to sleep that evening.
“What is clear is that the defendant drove the car off the road, on to the grass verge, struck the victim and then went across the road again and ended up in a ditch.”
A police investigation concluded Wilkins, of Watery Lane, Scropton, had no alcohol in his system and did not have a mobile phone in the car.
Mr Chignell said the defendant stayed at the scene following the collision saying he believed he had fallen asleep at the wheel.
The 54-year-old pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and has no previous convictions of any kind.
Jailing him for 16 months, suspended for two years, Judge Jonathan Bennett said: “The last 14 months have just been horrendous for her and she is still left wondering what might yet happen to her leg.
“She has still got a cage on her leg and she sadly lost one of the dogs she was walking.”
Nicola Hunter, mitigating, said her client is separated from his wife with whom he has two children.
She said their son, who is now 18, has severe autism and requires 24-hour care which is shared between both parents.
Miss Hunter said: “In a letter from his wife she tells how he is a ‘decent human being’ who provides ‘paramount support to her and their son.’
“He is absolutely devastated by what happened and the injuries he caused.”
As well as the suspended jail term, Wilkins was disqualified from driving for two years.
Judge Bennett also handed him a three-month curfew, ordered him to carry out 200 hours unpaid work and ordered him to pay £425 costs.
The hearing was told how the victim is pursuing a civil claim against the defendant for compensation.