A MONMOUTHSHIRE man has been jailed for causing a crash which left the lives of a mother and her two young children "changed forever". 

One of the girls in the car, who was just one year old at the time of the crash, spent three months in hospital to allow her neck to heal, while her sister, who was two, has been left mentally scarred, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

Matthew Robin Lane, 39, of St Helen’s Crescent, Llanellen, appeared in court today, September 1, after previously pleading guilty to three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and one count of possessing class C drugs, relating to 28 tablets of unprescribed diazepam.

The incident happened at 6.40pm on Tuesday, November 30, when Lane’s black Volkswagen Golf collided head-on with a car travelling in the opposite lane of the A467 near Aberbeeg, which was being driven by a woman with her two young daughters in the back.

Peter Donnison, prosecuting, said how after the crash, the mother was able to get out of the car and remove her children.

“She was then overcome by shock and led down in the road next to the car,” he said.

The mother was taken to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff where she was suffering from bruising to her hip, abdomen and chest and significant injuries to her right wrist, which was found to be a fracture. Both children were taken to the Grange University Hospital.

Lane had to be cut from the vehicle by firefighters and suffered ‘serious’ leg injuries.

Following months of treatment, the younger child will have permanently reduced mobility in her neck, with medical reports read out in court stating her mobility will be 60 per cent reduced. The court heard how medical experts have said that the child’s recovery at present is ‘good’ however, judge Michael Fitton QC stated this must be taken in context that the injuries suffered were near-fatal.

A victim impact statement by the mother - described by Judge Fitton as "very powerful" - described how her life and those of her daughters had been "changed forever". The mother said she had been left terrified of driving and constantly thinking of how her children could come to harm.

“My children should have been safe from harm in the car with me, but they weren’t,” she said, in one of two victim impact statements.

She also described how both of her children are terrified and anxious and cannot be away from her. The older child, who suffered bruising around her left eye and upper leg and upper arm, as well as a displaced fracture of her upper arm, in the crash, stayed with her aunt in Nottingham while her sister recovered, had began refusing to eat, and has more recently been seen pushing toy cars together to simulate a crash, asking "is that what happened to us?".

The court heard Lane had been seen driving erratically shortly before the crash.

A witness reported seeing the car crossing over the central double white line, saying he had had "three of his wheels over the central line, with only the back passenger wheel on the right side of the road", and called 999.

 

MORE NEWS:

Thomas Stanway, defending, told how Lane had been working 14-hour shifts as a welder to pay off debts and had been going from work to look after his parents' dogs before going to visit his seriously-ill father in hospital. He was also supporting his partner, whose mother was suffering from cancer and whose father had passed away shortly before due to Covid. It was said that due to this, Lane was not sleeping well and therefore was extremely tired.

“He admitted his responsibility at the earliest opportunity and has shown genuine remorse,” said Mr Stanway.

Judge Fitton said that it was a ‘complex case’ and recognised that the possession of drugs was not an aggravating factor in the case as although it was found that

Lane was found to have diazepam and cocaine in his blood. He admitted the cocaine was taken a few days prior to the crash and the amount was not above the legal limit, and that he was taking diazepam for pain in his leg.

Lane was jailed for two years for each of the serious injury by dangerous driving charges, to run concurrently, and was banned from driving for five years. He also had to pay a victim surcharge and an order was made to have the diazepam destroyed.

He received no separate penalty for the possession of the drugs.