Company boss nearly killed two young women in head-on smash
HE WAS TWO-AND-A-HALF TIMES DRINK-DRIVE LIMIT
A HEALTHCARE firm boss almost caused the deaths of two young women when he crashed head-on into their car while two-and-a-half times the drink-drive limit.
Nottingham Crown Court heard how father-of-three Richard Miller was travelling at an estimated 60mph when he lost control of his Ford Galaxy on a bend and veered into the path of the victims’ car.
The force of the collision led to the driver losing consciousness, having to be cut free from the Ford Focus and was left with a bleed to the brain. Her passenger crawled from the wreckage having suffered seven broken ribs and a bleed to her bowel.
Handing him a 14-month jail term, Recorder Stuart Sprawson said: “Unbeknown to them, that day and the previous day you have been consuming copious quantities of alcohol, sufficient to render it unsafe to drive, but you chose to drive and your action was deliberate. You took a significant risk totally ignoring the rules of the road.
“You chose to take that corner at high speed and crossed the solid, white, centre line. It was dangerous in the extreme. The driver was rendered unconscious and her lasting memory is of your car mounting her bonnet. Their lives have been affected greatly by your criminal behaviour.”
Matt Hayes, prosecuting, said the crash took place in Main Road, Ravenshead, at around 6.15pm on May 17, last year. He said the two women in the Focus, aged 26 and 29, were taking their dog to a training class and the one driving slowed down to 30mph to negotiate the bend when the defendant’s car swerved into their path.
The prosecutor said: “One of the victims estimates his car to be travelling at around 60mph. The airbags were deployed and the driver was knocked out as the car spun 360 degrees. The passenger managed to roll out of the car and recalled feeling a burning sensation like she had been crushed. She then saw the defendant standing behind her and he said ‘all I can say is I am sorry.’
“She asked him if he had been texting or drinking and he said ‘I am sorry, I can’t answer that.’”
Mr Hayes said the driver was cut free from the car and the police breathalysed Miller, who blew a reading of 110 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath when the legal limit is 35.
At the police station, the defendant then told officers he had a medical reason why he could not give a second, evidential, breath sample, so blood was taken instead. The prosecutor said this gave a reading of 211 milligrams of alcohol, in 100 millilitres of blood when the legal limit is 80.
In victim impact statements the passenger said she now has to sleep on the sofa with the TV on and that any loud noises remind her of the crash. In hers, the driver said: “I cannot recall much about the crash but remember waking up feeling trapped and this panicked me.
“I now struggle with basic tasks such as eating and bathing and what happened still haunts me to this day.”
Miller, 55, of Springwood View Close, Sutton-in-ashfield, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and drink-driving. He has a previous drink-driving conviction from 2017 for which he received a 10-week jail term, suspended for a year, and was banned from driving for 29 months.
Lauren Manuel, mitigating, said her client had a career in banking which he left to set up his own business providing healthcare services and which she said employed 200 staff.
She said since this incident the father of three grown-up children has left his role as the managing director and also volunteers for a football club in Southwell and for the Forestry Commission.
Miss Manuel said: “He’d had several pints of cider and without thinking drove home and that is something he bitterly regrets. He immediately apologised, he remained at the scene and was compliant with the police.
“Six days after the incident he attempted to take his own life but fortunately his wife found him.”
As well as the jail term, Recorder Sprawson disqualified the defendant from driving for five years and seven months.