A 27-year-old from Newport has been banned from driving for 12 months after testing positive for drugs following a crash in Cowes last year – a crash which led to his leg being amputated.
Joel Prior, of Parkhurst Road, was handed the driving disqualification by the Isle of Wight Magistrates Court last Friday.
The court heard how Prior had cannabis in his system when he was involved in a crash with a Seat Ibiza at Somerton Roundabout, outside Aldi. Prior, who was riding a Kawasaki motorcycle at the time of the incident, approached the roundabout from Three Gates Road and was hit by the car. He was pushed towards a bus and fell from his motorcycle, sustaining a leg injury. The motorcycle was wedged underneath the front of the local bus.
The leg injury sustained was so bad that doctors later had to amputate the leg below the knee. He also suffered a broken back as a result of the incident and was airlifted to Southampton’s Major Trauma Unit by the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance.
Although Prior had drugs in his system at the time of the crash, it was not a contributing factor. Defending, Barry Arnett made a point of saying that his client was driving properly and that Joel’s life has now changed dramatically as a result of the crash.
Joel Prior admitted drug driving and driving without an MOT. He was disqualified from driving for 12 months, fined £106 and ordered to pay costs of £85 with a £34 surcharge.
Bit strange that,the magistrates must have been in a bad mood or something,no excuse for having weed in your system but come on guys,give the bloke a break….? Broken back, one leg, trauma etc…..
He admitted drug driving and driving without MOT, yet give him a break because he is injured?
He lost his leg and was driving properly ain’t that enough
You have to treat it as two separate incidences. The first was drug driving and no MOT, the second was an accident. This is a court case for the former, rather than the latter.
Costs of £85 with a £34 surcharge
Blimey – helicopter rides and major trauma surgery plus aftercare cost much less than I previously thought!
Sorry, but taking to the road drugged and without a valid MOT makes you culpable in my opinion. Give the guy a break? Give the taxpayer a break!!
Lovely people on here commenting
Perfect people they must be he lost his leg fg sake
Helicopter costs upward if £2885 every flight and Dorset’s is possibly more as it’s bigger our one
May be every drug/drinker may learn a lesson b4 operating a vehicle in a unfit state
Maybe if he had maintained his bike so that it could pass an MOT he would still have his leg. No MOT == not road worthy.
You might not know how to fix and maintain vehicles but maybe he does? Your comment is so dumb. How did lack of mot cause this? Enlighten me
Too lenient considering what was involved with getting him to hospital; helicopter etc. See the old saying ‘changed his life’, does that mean no smoking weed?
If the driver of the car had eyes to see and could competently drive, no-one would have been In hospital would they? And i think that means he lost his leg.. life changing that
Firstly. He did not cause the accident. Secondly the bike did not cause the accident. So perhaps ask the driver of the car that did cause the accident to stump up ( no pun intended) for the cost ?
If he was waking across the road would you be so harsh?
He was only just over the legal limit and had not smoked anything that day. The magistrates agreed that as far as the accident was concerned he was at no fault at all.
Now please can you all stop being so judgemental and get back into your Troll holes.