A van driver who crashed into a lorry leaving its driver needing a finger amputation has been jailed. Jamie Dalby, of Larch Grove, Braunstone, had been driving the wrong way down part of the A619 in Derbyshire when the head-on crash took place last year.

The 30-year-old had overtaken a Fiat in the moments before the collision and proceeded down the wrong side of the A619 between Chesterfield and Baslow when he hit the lorry. The crash severely injured Dalby and left the lorry with life-changing injuries, reports DerbyshireLive.

Derby Crown Court heard how father-of-two Dalby, who had no previous convictions, cannot remember anything of the crash. However, investigations found that he was driving the wrong way down the A619 for around 350 metres after overtaking the Fiat before the collision.

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Eunice Gedzah, prosecuting, said Dalby did not see the lorry until it was too late to act. She told the court: “At an offside bend he (Dalby) stayed on the wrong side of the road and the victim approached the bend but they could not see each other until it was too late.

"The victim said he had just a second to react and there was a head-on crash and he was showered in glass. The cab filled with smoke and despite this he was able to get out in case there was a fire.

"The defendant was unconscious and had to be removed by firefighters. The victim suffered fractures to his ulna and radius and his right index finger had to be amputated.”

The victim, who owned and ran his own haulage company, has been left with serious life-changing injuries. A victim impact statement revealed how he now struggles with everyday tasks and requires his wife’s help.

He also suffers from travel sickness and regular, considerable pain. The lorry driver also revealed how the accident meant he is now no longer able to enjoy bike rides together with his family due to the pain he suffers.

Jamie Dalby collision
The collision led to major tailbacks along the A619

In defence, James Armstrong-Holmes, for Dalby said his client regretted the collision. He said: “For him this has been an absolutely terrible mistake and he is going to have to live with it for the rest of his life. He, himself, broke his right hip, his right leg and had a bone protruding through it.

“He lives with his partner who is here to support him in court and they have two children, sons - one aged eight months and the other two years old. She works part-time in customer service and if he is sent to prison today she will not be able to make ends meet by herself.”

Dalby pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He was jailed for 16 months and disqualified from driving for two years and eight months.

Recorder Justin Wigoder said: “It is clear you were driving entirely properly (at first) but there came a stage where you overtook a Fiat and nobody suggests there was anything wrong with manoeuvre but then for some reason, best known to yourself, you stayed in the wrong lane and you did not stay there fleetingly.

"You drove on the wrong side of the road for 350m and (the victim) was coming the other way. There was a bend, he came round it and the two vehicles hit head-on. I accept you were injured but (the victim) was more seriously injured and his life has been left completely changed not just physically but mentally.

“He was a class 2 lorry driver, the owner of a haulage company and that has effectively been destroyed by what you did. In his own words, 'my life and my whole world was taken away from me'.”

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