‘This has been catastrophic for our whole family’
ADAD-OF-TWO was left so badly injured after a car crash involving a policeman who admitted dangerous driving, that he can now only communicate by raising his thumb up and down.
John Cleary suffered brain damage after Merseyside Police officer Paul Ford careered into him in a multi-vehicle pile-up at Switch Island, at the junction with the M57 motorway.
Former policeman Mr Cleary, 59, suffered a fractured skull and bleeding to the brain.
His son James said his dad was now a resident in a Southport care home, in need of 24-hour care.
Ford, 47, of Stonehill Avenue, Bebington, Wirral, had initially claimed he’d swerved to avoid a fox before the crash happened.
But he later changed his plea to admit dangerous driving at the end of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court last month.
The diabetic driver had crucially not checked his blood sugar levels before getting behind the wheel, in February 2014, which meant he had a hypoglycemic attack.
It was a specific DVLA requirement on his licence that he check his blood sugar levels before driving.
Now, Mr Cleary’s family have detailed how the Aintree smash has turned the ex-taxi driver’s life upside down.
James, 29, speaking on behalf of the Cleary family, said: “My dad is bed-bound, apart from two hours when he goes in a wheelchair.
“Before the accident, he’d retired from the police force and was driving a Delta taxi.
“It’s been catastrophic for him and our family.”
Along with Mr Cleary, Christopher Whittaker and Victoria Lavery required hospital treatment after the collision at the motorway’s junction with Dunnings Bridge Road.
Ms Lavery broke two bones in her spine and had wounds to her head and face, while Mr Whittaker suffered a fractured spine, breast bone and pelvis, cuts to his head and spleen, and bruising to his heart muscle.
James said his family now believe that temporary bans should be issued by the DVLA for diabetic drivers when insulin prescriptions are changed, to avoid the risks of motorists being over-prescribed, as emerged in this case.
He added: “This could be a landmark case as it highlighted the problem of people mismanaging their diabetes through the clinics. “Ford has been exposed now. “We are really unhappy he strung three families along for two-and-ahalf years.
“There’s been no remorse from him, or an apology.
“He’s been found out for lying in court.
“The trial exposed the fact that Ford didn’t check his blood sugar level.
“But it’s the broader levels about communication with the DVLA – there’s no reason this should happen ever again to other families.
”I’m amazed it’s never been brought up before.”
Ford was allowed to plead guilty to a slightly lesser charge after the over-prescription of insulin meant the usual warning signs of a hypoglycemic attack – including sweating, anxiety or acute hunger – would not have been present.
But the failure to check his blood sugar levels was still critical, the court heard.
Prosecutors said Ford’s car trav- elled at up to 70mph as he made no effort to brake and ploughed into the other vehicles, sending Mr Whittaker’s vehicle flying into the air.
The policeman’s Meriva went down a grass verge and ended up on its roof.
Ford, who’d been diagnosed with Type One diabetes in 2008, suffered a spinal fracture, an injury to his left eye requiring surgery, and bruising to his ribs.
In the constable’s car was a rucksack containing a diabetes diary and blood monitoring device.