B3151 crash – man sentenced
You may recall that last March we reported on a car smash on the B3151 near Somerton which left 32 year old Jackie Luxon with a broken leg and her three year old daughter who was travelling in the rear of the Seat sustained a broken neck and was paralysed for four months. Sadly Mrs Luxton also lost her unborn child following the accident.
Today a 29-year-old man appeared at Taunton Crown Court on two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and one count of dangerous driving.
Custodial sentence
Stuart Wells, of Terrace View in Sherborne, Dorset had previously admitted causing the collision. He has been jailed for three years and seven months. As well as the prison sentence, he was also disqualified from driving for five years.
Police said that witnesses saw Wells’ Ford Fiesta driving erratically along the A39 and the B3151 prior to the collision. They reported seeing the vehicle drifting across the carriageway, veering both onto the verge as well as onto the wrong side of the road. One witness described how he drove aggressively behind her car in what she perceived to be an effort to force her to speed up or pull over.
The court heard Wells’ Ford Fiesta collided with the side of Tom Luxon’s Peugeot 307 travelling in the opposite direction on a straight section of road. This caused the vehicle to spin out of control, colliding with a large hedge. The Ford Fiesta then collided head on with a Seat Ibiza driven by Mr Luxon’s wife, Jackie. The force of the impact threw both vehicles into the air before they eventually settled on opposite sides of the road, a fourth vehicle, a VW Polo then collided at slow speed with the Seat Ibiza.
Following the verdict Investigating officer PC Owen Davies, from the Road Policing Unit, stated “The Luxon’s had just bought the bigger Peugeot in anticipation of their new arrival. They were driving home in convoy when Wells, driving dangerously, drifted onto their side of the road and collided with both of their vehicles. The resulting injuries sustained by Mrs Luxon and their daughter, have had a profound effect on their lives while the loss of their unborn baby has been truly devastating for the family. Their injuries and loss will continue to have implications for the rest of their lives.”