Powick motorbike crash - why was careless driver not banned?

Zak Martin was riding his motorbike towards Worcester when a car driven by Sarah Chapman pulled out of a junction and ploughed into him in Powick causing catastrophic injuries.

Chapman admitted a charge of careless driving at court and was handed six points and a £250 fine

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But 32-year-old Mr Martin slammed the ‘lenient’ sentence she received at Worcester Magistrates Court which did not even involve a driving ban.

His reaction was one of ‘disbelief’ and ‘disgust’ when his 31-year-old partner, who attended court, told him the result.

CATASTROPHIC: The crash which injured Zak Martin

The defendant’s Vauxhall Zafira struck him after she pulled out of Sparrowhall Lane onto the main Malvern Road, crashing into his Yamaha YZF-R1 at around 4.40pm on November 5 last year.

Mr Martin, of Orford Way, Malvern but previously of St John’s, Worcester, was in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for seven weeks and still cannot walk unaided, using crutches to hobble about the house.

The former Chase High School and Worcester Tech student, who used to hike up the Malvern Hills three times a week, suffered two broken ankles, a broken femur, a broken pelvis, a broken tibia which required an external fixator, a fractured eye socket and a dislocated knee.

AFTERMATH: The wreckage of Sarah Chapman's Vauxhall Zafira

Although the couple accepts the crash was an accident they still feel the driver should have faced a driving ban.

Mr Martin cannot remember the crash itself as he was slipping in and out of consciousness.

The father-of-one had to sign a disclaimer as it was feared his left leg would have to be amputated.

“I thought the leg was gone - I thought that was it,” he said. The consequences still reverberate through his family seven months after the devastating crash, including the toll on his own mental health.

WRITE-OFF: The Yamaha YZF-R1 after the crash in Powick

He has not ridden a motorbike since and says he never will again.

A former production manager at a welding and fabrication company, he now cannot work and is forced to spend time in bed to recover after receiving 12 separate operations and six blood transfusions.

AGONY: The external fixator on the leg Zak Martin feared he would lose

Chapman, aged 55, of Holly Green, Upton, was handed six penalty points, fined £250 and ordered to pay costs of £110 and a victim surcharge of £34.

Mr Martin said: “I don’t think she realises how life-changing it is and how close I came to dying that night.

“The sentence was way too lenient. I’m disgusted by it. They took into account her situation, the impact on her of losing her licence upon her livelihood.

“They don’t take into account my injuries. I have lost my livelihood. I can’t drive. I can’t work. I can’t do anything. Yet she can still drive.”

HOPE: Zak Martin has been supported throughout by his partner, Anna Smith

Mr Martin's partner, Anna Smith, was present to watch Chapman sentenced, describing the bench's decision as 'disheartening' and speaking of the 'anger' she felt.

She was a self-employed beautician but has become a full-time carer to Mr Martin.

The loss of two sources of income has had a massive financial impact on the couple who have a three-year-old daughter, Phoebe.

Mr Martin is still waiting for a complicated full hip replacement operation and may need, potentially, three more operations.

Three skin grafts were necessary as part of his recovery and he had to have a ligament removed from his arm to put in his foot.

He has battled an infection caused by one of the screws in his fixator which had to be replaced. He also required a bone graft.

Miss Smith has been driving her partner of 13 years to the QE once a week for check-ups, x-rays and to change the dressings.