Pharmacist caused head-on crash in Staffordshire leaving driver facing leg amputation
A pharmacist who caused a head-on crash in Staffordshire that left a driver facing the prospect of having his right leg amputated has been given a suspended sentence.
Claudia Mukubvu crossed double white lines in her Renault Clio and smashed in to a Mercedes driven by John Bevan.
The collision happened on April 30 last year on the A518 Stafford to Uttoxeter road near Weston.
Mr Bevan, aged 53, from Stafford, was trapped in the wreckage for three hours.
Mother-of-two Mukubvu meanwhile is facing being struck off the register of pharmacists by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) as a result of being handed a 16- month suspended prison sentence.
The 35-year-old , admitted the new offence of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. She was also ordered to do 150 hours unpaid community work, banned from driving for three years, and ordered to pay £340 costs, plus £100 surcharge.
Judge Mark Eades told her: "For reasons you have never explained you chose to go against double white lines. It was a deliberate risk. The consequences were devastating. Mr Bevan sustained very serious injuries from which he will never recover."
Mr Nick Burn, prosecuting said Mukubvu pulled out to overtake a slower car approaching the brow of a hill where she was unable to see ahead and double white lines prohibited overtaking.
An oncoming BMW managed to swerve to avoid a collision, but Mr Bevan was not so lucky and the Clio hit his Mercedes head on.
He later described the aftermath: "I had nowhere to go, there was a massive impact and the car spun round. I tried to move my legs, but they were trapped."
He added that the pain from his legs was almost unbearable.
It took emergency services three hours to cut him free and he was taken to Stafford County Hospital.
He is due to undergo pioneering stem cell treatment as a 'last resort' before amputation. In a victim impact statement he said his and his family's lives have been shattered.
Mukubvu, of Bradmoor Grove, Derby, suffered broken arms and ribs in the crash, but is now facing a disciplinary hearing from her professional body.
"She is extremely sorry for the hurt she has caused this man and his family. She knows she should not have been overtaking, it is a decision she will always regret," added Mr Kraehling-Smith.
