Wem motorist guilty of dangerous driving after motorcyclist lost leg in A49 crash
A Wem man has been found guilty of dangerous driving following an accident in which a motorcyclist lost part of his leg.
Stephen Singh was in control of an on-coming car overtaking a bin lorry when his car struck 58-year-old Deon Zwanepoel.
Mr Zwanepoel was airlifted to Stoke Hospital after the crash but surgeons were unable to save the lower part of his right leg following crush injuries.
Singh, of Cordwell Park, Wem, was convicted of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He had admitted being the driver and driving carelessly but had denied the more serious offence.
A jury at Liverpool Crown Court took 45 minutes to unanimously find him guilty and Judge Andrew Menary, QC, warned him that all sentencing options will be open when he returns for sentence on October 12.
He was struck a glancing blow by the VW Passat driven by Singh, who had just overtaken the lorry.
Both drivers stopped and ran back to the injured man, who had been thrown from his machine, before he was airlifted to hospital. He was found to have injuries to his right foot requiring his leg to be amputated before the knee. He had also suffered a fractured left knee and left thumb.
Singh, 28, told police the motorbike “came from nowhere” and said he could not understand why the collision had happened.
He said he accepted he was guilty of careless driving, adding: “I cannot apologise enough, I understand he has a life changing injury. It wasn’t my intention when I went out to cause injury to anyone. I cannot change it, if I could I would but it isn’t possible.”
Singh, who was supported in court by family and friends, was further remanded on bail to enable a pre-sentence report to be prepared.
Judge Menary has imposed an interim disqualification banning him from the road.
