A DRIVER told not to drive because of a condition that made him fall asleep caused a ‘sickening’ head-on crash that left a motorcyclist with massive brain injuries.

Father-of-two Imtiaz Shah, 42, ignored warnings from doctors not to drive because it was suspected he had sleep apnoea, a court heard.

But despite the advice, Shah insisted on driving and had gone more than 200 miles on the day he smashed into former mechanic Steven Hayes’s motorbike near the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

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A judge sentenced the defendant, of Smith Street, Nelson, to 30 months behind bars and banned him from driving for three years.

Speaking after the hearing, the victim’s wife Linda, said her husband, who is from Accrington, would ‘never be the same again’ after suffering catastrophic injuries that left him unable to talk or walk.

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She said: “He’ll never be the Steven I fell in love with and married. We feel like we are grieving for the Steven we lost that day.”

Preston Crown Court heard how Shah, a former Pendle Council worker who used to be severely overweight, had been to the doctor with symptoms of sleep apnoea.

The condition causes the muscles in the throat to relax causing a total blockage of the airway.

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Steven and his daughter Jenny

He said he was feeling ‘tired and lethargic’ because of disrupted sleep.

The doctor told him not to drive while tests were carried out and the warning was reinforced on a later visit to another GP.

But the judge heard how Shah continued driving for more than five-and-a-half months, taking his mother to hospital appointments.

On April 24 last year, the defendant drove to Birmingham on a social visit before making the journey to the Royal Blackburn Hospital to visit his niece, who was suffering from a kidney infection.

When he left, he negotiated roundabouts in Haslingden Road for around half a kilometre. On the third roundabout, he failed to straighten up his Honda CRV.

Mr Recorder Simon Earlam told Shah: “You were falling asleep at the wheel and losing control, narrowly missing a black car as you were veering towards the centre line.

“You continued to veer over the centre line. The driver of a RangeRover realised you were not going to straighten up.

“He and his passenger described how your head was down. I find you were probably asleep at this stage.”

The driver of the RangeRover managed to take aversive action, but Shah’s car still struck the back of it.

He then continued without breaking into the path of Mr Hayes.

The judge continued: “It was a sickening collision head on.

“He was thrown into the air like a rag doll by the force. The impact was such that his helmet came off.

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“Mr Hayes hit your windscreen leaving hair and flesh where he struck. He then hit the road surface leaving a trail of blood on the ground.”

Shah’s car finally stopped when it hit a wall by some cottages.

Mr Hayes was taken to the Royal Preston Hospital where he remained in a ‘deeply unconscious state’ for months.

The 48-year-old needed surgery to have part of his skull removed to relieve the pressure on his brain.

He has now been released from hospital but is still being looked after in a care home.

Mr Recorder Earlam said: “The injuries to Mr Hayes have been most serious and permanently life-changing. They have ruined his life and that of his immediate family.

Sentencing Shah, who was found guilty by a jury of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, the judge said he believed that apart from this offence, the defendant was a ‘model citizen’ who showed ‘genuine remorse’.

Speaking after the sentencing, Mr Hayes’s daughter Jenny, 21, said she was disappointed with the length of the prison term.

She said: “He condemned my dad to a life sentence dealing with those injuries yet he’ll be out of prison in little more than a year, free to enjoy his life. That is not justice.

“This incident has had a devastating impact on my dad and our entire family.

“In a split second, my dad was robbed of his independence, much of his ability to communicate and to enjoy his life and his hobbies.

“He will need the support of carers every hour of every day for the rest of his life.

A civil case will now be taken out against Shah.

The family’s lawyer, Richard Crabtree, of Slater and Gordon, said: “This is a tragedy that should never have happened. This driver knew he should not have been driving.”