Drug-driver jailed after losing control of HGV

A driver has been jailed after being almost double the drug drive limit when he lost control of his truck and swerved into the path of another vehicle.

Anthony Campbell was behind the wheel of a Scania heavy goods lorry when he crashed into an oncoming black Mercedes GL320 towing a trailer on the A47 at Guyhirn, Cambridgsehire, on January 3.

The driver of the Mercedes, a 33-year-old man from Birmingham, suffered minor injuries, while the passenger, a 38-year-old man, also from Birmingham, suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, in Cambridge, where he underwent surgery.

Campbell, 55, of Culross Place, East Kilbride, Glasgow, was uninjured and failed a roadside drugs wipe and was subsequently arrested.

Five hours later, a blood sample was taken which showed his cannabis level at 3.7mcg per litre of blood. The legal limit is two.

At Peterborough Crown Court on Friday (July 12), Campbell (pictured below) was sentenced to two years in prison after previously pleading guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He was also disqualified from driving for four years.

In a victim personal statement, the passenger said: “When I was trapped in the car at the scene of the crash, I thought I was going to die.

“After my release from hospital I remember seeing lorries diving on the roads and I was shouting ‘slow down’ and grabbing hold of the handles in the car. This was the first time it hit me how scared I was following the accident.

“I can’t believe that someone would be so stupid as to drive a 44-tonne lorry with drugs in their system. The whole incident has left me sad, upset and angry. What he did that day could have easily killed us.”

PC Boris Kahn, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire’s serious collision investigation unit, said: “Campbell displayed unbelievable recklessness and ignorance in getting behind the wheel after smoking cannabis.

“It is nothing short of a miracle that the driver and the passenger in the Mercedes are still here today.

“While they continue to recover from their injuries, I hope the victims feel a sense of justice and closure following this sentence.

“Anyone who drives after taking illegal drugs is putting people’s lives at risk and it is completely unacceptable.”