Dereham man jailed for crash which caused 'life changing injuries' to passenger
He was also banned from driving
Last updated 27th Sep 2023
A Norfolk man who caused life changing injuries to his passenger has been jailed.
Thomas Procter, aged 19, of Guestwick, Dereham appeared before Norwich Magistrates Court on Friday 22 September 2023 and pleaded guilty, on the day of trial, to causing serious injury by careless driving.
Yesterday (26th September), he was sentenced to two years in prison as well as being banned from driving for three years.
The sentence relates to a collision which occurred on Briston Road, Corpusty on Friday 15 July 2022, in the early hours of the morning.
Proctor collided with the grass verge which caused his vehicle to flip onto its roof. His passenger was left with life changing injuries.
When interviewed by police, Proctor initially denied the offence, claiming that he swerved to avoid a second vehicle which was never identified.
During the investigation, it was found that Proctor had been speeding and using his mobile phone at the time of the collision.
He'd only held his driving licence for a matter of weeks.
Proctor pleaded guilty to the offence on the day of trial and admitted no other vehicles had been involved.
He was sentenced to two years in prison and banned from driving for three years.
Roads and Armed Policing Sgt Ben Hawkins said: “We welcome this sentence as a recognition of the dangers of anyone who uses their mobile phone whilst driving and driving at excess speed.
“Sadly, in this case a young woman has been left with injuries she will carry for years to come and the offender has made every effort to blame everybody but himself for his poor driving.
“I want to thank the victim in this case for having the courage to support a police prosecution and for the hard work and diligence of the investigating officer in achieving a very positive result which we hope will set a message to other drivers.”