A man has been jailed after causing a serious collision that left a young passenger with life-changing injuries. Rhys Hayden, 23, of Little Barn Lane in Mansfield, lost control of his black Audi while speeding, under the influence of drugs and uninsured.
Hayden was driving his Audi A4 cabriolet along the A52 at Roman Bank, Ingoldmells, just after 12pm on Sunday, March 6, 2022. He was driving north, towards Anchor Lane when he crashed head-on into a white Land Rover Range Rover being driven in the opposite direction, towards Fantasy Island.
During the police investigation, the Forensic Collision Investigator, PC Godfrey Barlow, was able to calculate from CCTV footage, the Audi was being driven, by Hayden, at approximately 74 mph, plus or minus five miles per hour, prior to the impact. At the point the collision happened the road is a narrow coast road with a speed limit of 30 mph.
Due to his injuries, Hayden was taken to hospital and a blood sample was subsequently analysed, which showed he had cocaine in his system. The legal limit is 50 micrograms per litre of blood, the results showed he had 74 micrograms in his system. He was not insured at the time of the crash.
Forensic Vehicle Investigators examined the Audi, which showed the automatic braking system (ABS) was faulty. This caused the ABS, which allows steering during heavy braking, to fail, meaning Hayden’s brakes locked while braking and his car went head-on into the Range Rover.
The front seat passenger of the Audi, who at the time was 17 years old, suffered serious life-changing injuries. He was not wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash, which Hayden, as the driver, should have been aware of. During interview, Hayden admitted to driving like an ‘absolute idiot.’
Both the driver and passenger of the Range Rover were taken to hospital; they suffered minor injuries. The area was busy with holidaymakers, and witnesses describe seeing the Audi being driven at excessive speeds, with the roof down and loud music playing prior to the collision.
Hayden was convicted of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, driving without insurance, and driving while over the specified drug limit. He appeared at Lincoln Crown Court today on July 3, 2023. He was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison and disqualified from driving for 3 years and 7 months with an extended retest.
Detective Inspector Joanna Reeves, Serious Collision Investigation Unit, Lincolnshire Police, said: “This collision has had a serious impact on the front seat passenger, who was a friend of the driver at the time.
“Mr Hayden was a young driver, behind the wheel of a powerful car, which had a braking defect. He had cocaine in his system, and he was travelling at excessive speeds. He did not have any car insurance at the time.
“This collision has two out of four recognised contributory factors in serious and fatal collisions; speed and drug driving. There are no winners today. I hope other drivers will see this and chose to take different decisions when they are driving a vehicle. That would be a positive for me, that we have fewer collisions that could have been avoided.”
