M5 drink-driver ploughs into BMW while travelling wrong way
A drink-driver left a woman and her three dogs with serious injuries after he joined the M5[1] in the wrong direction and crashed head-on into her car.
Ryan Physick, of Crewkerne[2], had been celebrating his birthday with after work drinks before he tried to drive to his Somerset home from East Devon, taking the wrong slipway onto the motorway.
He crashed into a car in lane three within minutes of joining the M5 and then fled the scene on foot, leaving a female passenger trapped in the wreckage of another car, Devon Live reports[3].
Police arrested him near Willand with a broken arm. He failed a roadside breath test and asked officers “have I killed anyone? I was stupid, okay?”
The driver of the other car escaped with minor injuries but his wife, who was in the passenger seat, had to be cut free and spent four days in hospital in Exeter being treated for shoulder, back, rib, knee and hand injuries.
The woman, who comes from East Devon, has had to take weeks off work and is still not fully mobile almost five months after the crash.
The couple’s three dogs were in the back of the car and were all injured, one losing the use of its legs, another suffering an injured tail, and the third a cut on its head.
The passenger said she was terrified that both she and her dogs would be killed in the accident and is still suffering flashbacks and nightmares.
Police tweeted a photo of the wrecked car after the crash on March 24 this year which showed massive damage to the nearside. The incident closed the motorway for several hours.
Electrician Physick, aged 27, of Langmead Road, Crewkerne, admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving and having no insurance.
He was jailed for 16 months, suspended for 18 months, ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid community work and pay £612 costs and victim surcharge by Recorder Mr Jaron Crooknorth at Exeter Crown Court.
He was also banned from driving for two years and six months and ordered to take an extended re-test before he is able to drive again.
The Recorder told Physick: “When you were caught by the police, you asked if you had killed anyone. It beggars beliefs that you did not kill somebody. I suspect the thought of that lives with you; and so it should.
“This was obviously a highly dangerous and prolonged incident which involved driving along the motorway in the wrong direction.”
Mr Lewis Aldous, prosecuting, said Physick entered the motorway down the exit slipway after ignoring a No Entry sign at around 9.30 pm on March 24. He crashed between the Tiverton and Cullompton junctions, writing off both cars.
He said: “The defendant fled the scene after the accident after the accident and was last seen running towards Willand. When police arrived they carried out a search and found he was the registered keeper.
“The defendant was detained in Willand with a broken arm. He asked if he had killed someone and told the officer ‘all I want to say is that it is my birthday and I have massively effed up. I just wish I had taken it on board a couple of hours ago. I was stupid, okay?’.”
A roadside breath test proved positive but there was a fault with the evidential test procedure, meaning that no reading was available.
The female passenger of the other car had to be cut out by the fire and rescue service. Her victim statement said: “The force of the impact was tremendous. I remember screaming. My body felt like the life was being crushed out of it.
“I will never forget the car spinning round and round and the noise of the metal and glass breaking. I thought we would be hit again by another car and that would be it. I realised out three dogs could well be dead. Every dog lover will know how that feels.”
Mr David Hayes, defending, said Physick went for a drink after work to celebrate his birthday and accepted that he had drunk more than he should before trying to drive home.
There had been a diversion on the road which had confused him and ended up travelling the wrong way on the M5 without realising it, leading to the accident happening very shortly afterwards.
He left the scene because other drivers who stopped were being aggressive. He had no insurance because of a mix-up with a standing order after he changed bank.
Mr Hayes said of the accident: “This was not a deliberate act but rather a gross error of judgment with terrible consequences for all concerned. No words can express the depth of his regret and remorse at what happened.”
References
- ^ the M5 (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
- ^ Crewkerne (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
- ^ Devon Live reports (www.devonlive.com)
- ^ Travellers set up camp in Somerset seaside town car park (www.somersetlive.co.uk)