Danger driver

MOTORIST Neil Mousley overtook on a blind summit and collided with an oncoming car, causing "life-shattering" injuries, a court heard.

As a result, a female driver was left unconscious in hospital for a week and may never make a full recovery, Huntingdon magistrates were told.

Penny Townsend described her injuries as "life-shattering" after sustaining several broken bones, temporary loss of sight, and a severe head injury requiring a bolt in her skull.

Her recovery continues to be a "long slog", magistrates heard, and she hoped her dreams of teaching children to ride horses had not been destroyed.

Mousley, 37, of Chatteris, who admitted dangerous driving on the road between St Ives and Somersham at an earlier hearing, was driving a Range Rover on the B1040 towards St Ives in the early hours of July 25 last year when he collided with Ms Townsend's Vauxhall Cavalier car travelling in the opposite direction.

Prosecutor John Goodier said Mousley, of previous good character, had pulled out to overtake another vehicle and, although road markings did permit the manoeuvre, he undertook it on a double-browed hill. The brakes of the Range Rover locked and the two vehicles collided head-on.

Elaine Havord, for Mousley, said her client was "very upset and distressed" by the incident and had "genuine concerns for the lady," calling the hospital at least 15 times to see how she was.

Mousley himself was seriously injured in the collision and was suffering from depression as a result, the court heard.

Magistrates told Mousley that custody had been a sentencing option, but handed down a two-year community order, including 60 hours of unpaid work to be completed in the next six months, a two-year driving disqualification with an extended re-test at its conclusion, and ordered him to pay £50 costs.