Mansfield driver left scooter rider with life-changing injuries after careless U-turn

Darroll Walton attempted the manoeuvre close to King's Mill Hospital on Sutton Road, at around 8pm, on September 22, 2022, said prosecutor Lucy Woodcock.

The scooter, travelling in the same direction, hit the car when it was at a 90-degree angle across the lanes and the rider was catapulted onto the pavement.

He was left with a number of serious injuries and had to be put into a coma for three weeks where he endured "terrifying hallucinations."

He sustained a fractured pelvis and ribs, lacerated lungs, and damage to the main blood vessel to his heart which required a stent, along with a bleed on the brain.

Now in a care home, he suffers from reduced movement, pain in his hip, neurological injuries, and memory loss.

He is unable to return to his former job as a health and safety coordinator, and can no longer afford his rented flat, or enjoy Northern Soul gigs, scooter rallies, weight-lifting or local history.

“My life ended on September 21," he said. “I feel sorry for the driver. I don't bear a grudge. I just want justice for his actions which completely changed my life.”

Walton, aged 51, told police he didn't see his victim and initally suggested he was speeding, but admitted not checking his blind spot.

Lily Grundy, mitigating, said Walton, who has no previous convictions and a clean driving licence, deeply regrets his actions, suffers constant flashbacks, and fears he will never be able to forgive himself.

A serious injury in 2004 made him dedicate his life to being a support worker, she said, and she spoke of the impact a jail sentence would have on his family.

“I wil think about this with incredible remorse and sorrow for the rest of my life," Walton said in a statement.

Walton, of Ilion Street, Mansfield, admitted causing serious injury by careless driving at Mansfield Magistrates Court on December 12.

On Wednesday, he received a 26-week prison sentence, suspended for one year, and was banned from driving for three years.

The presiding magistrate described the defendant and his victim as “ordinary men whose lives were changed by a single moment.”