Man jailed after crashing van into people queuing outside Derbyshire food bank

Martin Casey was behind the wheel of a Ford van which collided with a number of people outside the Kirk Hallam Community Hall in Kenilworth Drive on July 5, 2019.

MORE: Presenter jobs lost at Chesterfield's Peak FM as station transitions to Greatest Hits Radio

Casey left the road in his Ford van and hit five people.

One woman hit by the van suffered a fractured neck, ribs and ankle – with another suffering a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain. She now also suffers from seizures as a result of the accident.

On Monday, Nottingham Crown Court heard Casey had suffered a ‘partial seizure’ and should not have been driving.

Casey, 38, of College Street, Long Eaton, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving – and one count of dangerous driving following a collision between the same van and the community centre on June 26, 2019.

He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison and disqualified from driving for three years.

DC Scott Cooper, of Derbyshire Constabulary, said: “Each and every driver that gets behind the wheel of the car is taking on an enormous responsibility.

“It may be an everyday activity but as myself and my colleagues see on a daily basis a simple drive can be fatal.

“On this occasion sheer good fortune meant that nobody was killed by Martin Casey when he drove into a line of people simply waiting outside a community centre.

“In the days leading up to the crash in Kirk Hallam, Casey had several other collisions with vehicles and it must have been clear to him that something was wrong.

“Instead of doing what he morally and legally should have – in stopping driving and informing the driving authorities – he put himself and every other road user at risk.

“The DVLA lists more than 80 different conditions that, if you suffer from, you must inform them of. Failure to do is illegal and, as was seen in this case, can potentially lead to very serious injury and even death.

MORE: Vehicle thefts on the rise in Derbyshire

A message from the editor

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you

Nancy Fielder, editor