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Driver who had taken "shocking" cocktail of drugs before crash is jailed for three years

Driver Thomas Abbott (SWNS)
Driver Thomas Abbott (SWNS)

A drugged-up lorry driver who fell asleep at the wheel and smashed into a school bus causing horrific injuries to two students has been jailed.

Thomas Abbott, 26, had taken a “shocking” cocktail of drugs before he crashed into the single-decker bus on the opposite side of the road following his last delivery of the day.

The 18-tonne truck drifted across the carriageway onto the wrong side of the road, where it mounted the pavement and ploughed straight into the parked bus dropping schoolchildren off.

One of the teenagers - a boy who cannot be named for legal reasons - was “propelled the full length of the bus” in Monk Fryston, near Selby, North Yorks.

A schoolgirl was stood just inside the door of the bus, but the sheer force of the impact catapulted her on to a grass verge at about 3.20pm on December 10 last year.

Ancient Gothic Castle of Monk Fryston in Yorkshire, northern England. Castle is under a pretty and dramatic mostly sunny sky.
The crash took place in the old North Yorkshire village of Monk Fryston (Getty)

Drug tests revealed Abbott was more than four times over the legal limit for cocaine, nearly three times over the limit for amphetamine and nine times over the limit for cannabis.

They also revealed eight different substances were inside his system at the time of the collision, including Valium and Tempazepam.

Abbott, of Barnsley, South Yorks., admitted two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and driving while unfit through drugs on the A162.

He was jailed for three years and given a five-year driving ban during an emotionally-charged hearing at York Crown Court.

The injured boy suffered a triple fracture of the leg, a broken shoulder blade, a broken collarbone, fractured skull, hearing loss, a brain injury, cuts to his face and serious nasal disfigurement.

The teen, a talented sportsman, said his life had been ripped apart by Abbott’s reckless behaviour which had stopped him playing sport and affected his exams.

The victim, who was rendered temporarily unconscious, said: “I remember screaming in pain for hours in hospital before they gave me morphine.”

18th Century architecture of York County Court.  There is a carving on the cornice and a statue above.  A dramatic sky is above and the view is framed with foliage.
The case was heard at York Crown Court (Getty)

His injuries were so bad he had to take two months off school, and he had been left with permanent hearing loss, a huge scar on his forehead and suffered mood swings.

The girl’s injuries included a broken ankle and fractured hip.

She also suffered serious facial injuries and had to have over 100 stitches inserted into her lip and over the skin, leaving scarring.

The young female victim said the crash had “ruined” her life and schoolwork because of chronic tiredness brought on by nightmares and lack of sleep.

“The scars on my lip have bothered me and will continue to bother me for the rest of my life because it is a constant reminder of that accident and makes me feel really self-conscious,” she added.

Mitigating, James McGowan said his client had got involved in drugs as a child then relapsed in his older years.

The court heard that Abbott was given a 12-month disqualification for drink-driving.

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