A MAN has been jailed after a woman from Hook, Hampshire, was impaled with a scaffolding pole while she was driving.

The woman, who was 33 at the time, had two young children in the car with her during the terrifying incident.

She was driving her black Vauxhall Astra along the A327, Milney Road, in Blackwater, northern Hampshire, when a scaffolding pole fell off a Ford Transit flat bed vehicle travelling northbound.

The pole impaled the car door next to her as well as her leg, leaving the Hook woman with a serious injury.

Thankfully, the children were unharmed.

She was taken to Southampton General by air ambulance for treatment.

In the wake of the incident, which happened between 11.45am and 11.54am on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, police put out an appeal asking for witnesses.

Eventually, the driver of the scaffolding vehicle - Peter Lee, 36, of Yorktown Road, Bracknell Forest - was charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

On Friday, he was sentenced to three years in custody at Winchester Crown Court.

Speaking after the sentencing, PC Rhiannon Gibson, of the Joint Operations Roads Policing Unit, expressed her gratitude to the public for their support in getting justice for the woman.

She said: "I want to thank all the people who came forward following our media appeal. This information proved vital in our investigation."

She also reiterated how important it was for all drivers of flat bed vehicles to make sure their loads were safely tied up before setting out on a journey - to avoid incidents like this or worse happening.

She said: "I hope this sentencing shows how seriously we take cases like this and stresses the importance of load security on commercial vehicles. We regularly have to take action against drivers who don't properly secure their loads.

"The victim in this case has shown a lot of strength and we hope this sentence provides them with some peace."

https://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/24079163.a327-driver-impaled-pole-airlifted-southampton-hospital/

On 27/01/2024 07:08 pm, Simon Mason wrote:

> A MAN has been jailed after a woman from Hook, Hampshire, was impaled with a scaffolding pole while she was driving.
>
> The woman, who was 33 at the time, had two young children in the car with her during the terrifying incident.
>
> She was driving her black Vauxhall Astra along the A327, Milney Road, in Blackwater, northern Hampshire, when a scaffolding pole fell off a Ford Transit flat bed vehicle travelling northbound.
>
> The pole impaled the car door next to her as well as her leg, leaving the Hook woman with a serious injury.
>
> Thankfully, the children were unharmed.
>
> She was taken to Southampton General by air ambulance for treatment.
>
> In the wake of the incident, which happened between 11.45am and 11.54am on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, police put out an appeal asking for witnesses.
>
> Eventually, the driver of the scaffolding vehicle - Peter Lee, 36, of Yorktown Road, Bracknell Forest - was charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
>
> On Friday, he was sentenced to three years in custody at Winchester Crown Court.

He'll soon get sick of that, with all that dark panelling and the robing
rooms, having to do what the ushers tell him, etc.

He'll be pleading to be sent to the nearest open prison. Or even a
police station
>
> Speaking after the sentencing, PC Rhiannon Gibson, of the Joint Operations Roads Policing Unit, expressed her gratitude to the public for their support in getting justice for the woman.
>
> She said: "I want to thank all the people who came forward following our media appeal. This information proved vital in our investigation."
>
> She also reiterated how important it was for all drivers of flat bed vehicles to make sure their loads were safely tied up before setting out on a journey - to avoid incidents like this or worse happening.
>
> She said: "I hope this sentencing shows how seriously we take cases like this and stresses the importance of load security on commercial vehicles. We regularly have to take action against drivers who don't properly secure their loads.
>
> "The victim in this case has shown a lot of strength and we hope this sentence provides them with some peace."
>
> https://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/24079163.a327-driver-impaled-pole-airlifted-southampton-hospital/
>

QUOTE:
The driver of the Astra was airlifted to Southampton General Hospital for treatment. The driver of the scaffolding vehicle, Peter Lee, 36, of Yorktown Road, Bracknell Forest, was later charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving. On Friday, January 27 he was sentenced to three years in custody at Winchester Crown Court. ENDS

Reminds me of the case of the portakabin that fell off a lorry in Hull that killed a cyclist that the late "Mr Cheerful" thought was so amusing. He was jailed as well.

QUOTE: A Bradford lorry driver who crushed a cyclist when a cabin slipped off his trailer has been jailed for 27 months.

Mark Smith, 48, was behind the wheel when an 8.2 tonne blast-proof cabin crushed Susan Russell, 54, at the Garrison Road roundabout on the A63, in Hull, as she waited at the junction.

Smith, 48, who at the time ran a haulage firm from his home in Hunsworth Lane, East Bierley, had travelled 60 miles from West Yorkshire to Hull with the specialist cabin hanging precariously from his trailer. Judge John Dowse sent him to prison for “gross negligence” at a sentencing hearing at Hull Crown Court yesterday.

Smith, who has 28 years’ experience as a lorry driver, secured the load with only two straps and one was broken. He had also failed to use matting to stop it from slipping. The court heard without matting, the load would have needed 40 straps to keep it secure.

Prosecutor Bernard Gateshill said: “We say he must have seen the trailer was over hanging, he must have appreciated the risk, but he decided for his own reasons to carry on regardless.”

Smith, now of Royds Hall Avenue, Odsal, had driven to Hull after collecting the cabin from Ossett. He was travelling at 20mph over the Garrison Road roundabout at about 7.30am on August 20, last year, when the accident happened.

Mrs Russell, who had two daughters and four grandchildren, was cycling from her home in Abbey Street, east Hull, to her work at a care home for the elderly at nearby Victoria Dock.

In mitigation Smith’s barrister, Richard Gioserano, said: “He didn’t realise this was dangerous. He didn’t realise it had moved because he didn’t check its position before he set off.”

Smith, who had pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, was also disqualified from driving for four years and must take an extended driving test.

https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/9596712.crush-death-lorry-driver-jailed/