Jail for drunk trucker who ploughed head-on into oncoming minivan on A45

Three people were left seriously injured when a lorry driver who was three times over the drink-drive limit and in the wrong carriageway smashed into an oncoming minivan.

The Polish HGV driver had driven the vehicle laden with car parts from Germany through the Netherlands before catching the ferry to England and making his way to Northamptonshire.

Jacek Skaluba later told police officers he'd been drinking on the ferry and admitted downing two cups of wine in the lorry in the minutes before the crash. He was spotted veering across the white lines in the carriageway by an off-duty cop, who came across the scene of the incident on the A45 Stefen Way bypass at Daventry a few minutes later.

A Northampton Crown Court hearing on Friday (January 11) heard how the 59-year-old Polish national 'didn't flinch' when he smashed head-on into his vehicle on September 6 last year.

Dash-cam footage from the off-duty police officer showed Skaluba, who has no UK address, going over the central white line on the road before stopping his vehicle. The officer thought he was simply lost, but then minutes later he saw that the HGV had crashed..

Skaluba pleaded guilty to drink driving and three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Prosecuting, Jonathan Dunne, said that he had no previous convictions and had been a professional lorry driver since 1986.

"It's difficult to ascertain how much he'd had to drink," said Mr Dunne.

"He'd consumed two cups of wine shortly before the collision. He did not believe his consumption was in any way causative of the collison. He said 'no, that's nothing'."

He later told the probation officer that the drink had been 80 per cent proof. He was found to have 118mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath - nearly three-and-a-half times the drink drive limit.

The minivan was travelling from Badby Park to Bedford carrying seven occupants who had finished a long shift.

It was travelling at about 45mph when the driver saw Skaluba's HGV driving towards him in the wrong carriageway. His statement to police said: "I tried to swerve and put my foot down hard on the brake but he drove into me.

"The HGV driver didn't even appear to flinch."

The minivan driver suffered a broken arm and multiple cuts and bruises. He had to be cut free from the vehicle by the emergency services.

Another passenger described how he had been asleep at the time of the crash and awoke in a hospital bed with a broken femur and fractured pelvis. He was later told by staff at University Hospital Coventry that he had been crying and calling out for his brother.

He was discharged a week after the crash and had to move in with his brother because he was unable to care for himself. He had been left unable to work or complete his degree in advanced computer science because of effects of the crash.

Another passenger had been feeling tired and closed her eyes for a minute before the crash. She told the court she heard a loud bang and then found herself out of her seat and hanging out of the side door. She was taken to hospital with a deep laceration to her leg.

Mitigating, Chantelle Stocks, said that her client had no previous criminal record and an impeccable driving history and had been having marital difficulties in the months before the crash.

"He tried to drink away his difficulties," said Ms Stocks.

"Through his mindless and dangerous action he finds himself in a foreign prison. He speaks no English which makes life inside prison very lonely and isolating."

She added he had very little contact with his family and that they would not be able to visit. It was 'inevitable' that his home would be repossessed.

Sentencing Skaluba, Judge Mayo said that the fact he had driven for four hours in his HGV while three times over the drink drive limit was a significant aggravating feature.

He jailed him for three and a half years and banned him from driving for two years after he is released from jail. He will have to sit an extended test before he is allowed to take to the road again.