A VAN driver suffered life-changing injuries when he was involved in a crash which killed two pensioners.
Blackburn magistrates heard Jarrod Brian Holberry was completely cleared of any responsibility for the crash by a police inquiry.
But he was prosecuted after traces of cocaine were found in his blood following the collision in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, that left an 85-year-old man and woman, 82, dead.
Holberry, 49, of Burnley Road, Padiham, admitted driving with a proportion of a specified drug above the specified limit. He was fined £120 with £85 costs and banned from driving for 12 months.
Catherine Allan, prosecuting, said Holberry was driving a Ford Transit van on his way back from working in Plymouth.
He had left the motorway because of traffic problems. His colleague and passenger said that without any warning there was a bang and the van began to shake.
The windscreen smashed and the van flipped. The passenger managed to get out and then tried to help Holberry, who was screaming in pain.
A witness told how she saw the other car cross the centre of the A34 and collide with the van which was entirely on its own side of the road.
“The defendant was not at fault for the accident,” said Miss Allan.
“Both occupants of the other car were killed and the defendant suffered serious injuries.”
Graeme Parkinson, defending, said his client could not be held at fault for the collision.
“There was an extensive inquiry by the police and dashcam footage which showed the other car collided with my client’s van,” said Mr Parkinson.
“My client has been told the driver of the other vehicle fell asleep at the wheel.”
Mr Parkinson said neither vehicle was speeding but the head-on collision would have meant a 100mph impact.
“It took four hours to get him out of his mangled vehicle,” said Mr Parkinson.
“His left ankle was badly broken and was held in the wreckage.”
Holberry also suffered a dislocated hip, compressed fracture of vertebrae, a punctured lung, fractured ribs, a fractured jaw and other injuries.
He spent 12 weeks in hospital and four months in bed.
“He is still heavily medicated as far as pain is concerned,” said Mr Parkinson.
He said the cocaine derivative found in his client’s blood was as a result of him using cocaine the previous weekend.
“Whatever he was over the limit for had no impact on this occasion,” said Mr Parkinson.
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