Dangerous driver is spared from jail after forcing two vehicles off the road

A dangerous driver who forced two vehicles off the road during an accident has narrowly been spared from time behind bars.
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Derby Crown Court heard on Monday, July 16, how Andrew Cooke, 32, of St Lawrence Avenue, Bolsover, was driving a Volvo on Woodthorpe Road, at Mastin Moor, at night when he overtook a Toyota on a bend and went into the path of an on-coming Kia before swerving back into the Toyota.

Prosecuting solicitor Becky Allsop told a previous Chesterfield magistrates’ court hearing Cooke began overtaking and was confronted with the complainant’s Kia and swerved to the left and hit the Toyota which went into a hedge.

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The driver of the Kia had to be air-lifted to hospital with life-changing injuries, according to Mrs Allsop, including a dislocated and fractured hip, a fractured pelvis, a dislocated and fractured left knee, a fractured elbow, a fractured eye socket and a retinal injury.

Derby Crown Court.Derby Crown Court.
Derby Crown Court.

The court heard how this complainant needed four operations and his son, who was a passenger, suffered an injury to an eye.

Cooke pleaded guilty to two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving after the incident on November 2, last year.

Magistrates committed Cooke’s case to Derby Crown Court for sentencing on July 16.

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Cooke was sentenced to 14 months of custody suspended for 24 months with 240 hours of unpaid work and a six-month curfew.

He was also disqualified from driving for two years and must pay a £140 victim surcharge.