A motorist had a miraculous escape after his car was run over and destroyed by an out-of-control tractor driven by a drug-taking Eden Valley teenager.
Dramatic video footage captured the moment Tyler Sowerby’s huge Case iH vehicle veered across the two-lane road outside an RAF base and into the path of a Honda driven by a man who had little time to react.
Prosecutor Graeme Tindall told Carlisle Magistrates’ Court that William Davis was driving a Honda along the A1101 at Beck Row in Suffolk on September 24 last year. This was alongside RAF Mildenhall shortly after noon.
As Mr Davis did so, 19-year-old Tyler Sowerby travelled towards him. “The defendant was driving in the opposite direction, in a tractor which was towing a trailer which was loaded with grain,” Mr Tindall told magistrates. “He was swerving along the road.
“Mr Davis thinks he (Sowerby) will get back on to his own side but he doesn’t. He drives his tractor on top of the car, and the tractor turns over.
”When I show you the photographs you will be amazed there are no serious injuries.”
Dramatic images showing extensive damage to the Honda were shown in court, while video footage taken at the time captured the incredible collision.
Emergency services, including two ambulances, were called to the scene with police confirming at the time that those involved in the car and tractor were conscious and breathing. The CCTV appears to show Sowerby swiftly alighting from the tractor.
“He was co-operative with the testing proceedings,” said Mr Tindall. Analysis gave a positive reading for amphetamine in Sowerby’s system.
In court today, he admitted careless driving and driving while unfit through drugs.
Sowerby, of Lazonby, near Penrith, had previously admitted a separate drug-driving offence. This was committed at Lazonby on 10th February as he was stopped by police while driving a Vauxhall Corsa. A blood test showed he was over the legal driving limit for cocaine.
The court heard he had no previous convictions to his name.
Defence solicitor Duncan Campbell said Sowerby had lost control of the tractor. “Thank goodness nobody was injured. I think this young man was taken to hospital, that was precautionary. The Honda driver was uninjured. It was not as serious as it could have been,” said Mr Campbell.
A detailed probation service pre-sentence report gave details of Sowerby’s very difficult background, said Mr Campbell.
And the lawyer told magistrates: “There have been difficulties that most people don’t have to deal with. He has had to deal with them. It is to his credit that he has done so.”
Sowerby had previously delved in the drug world although Mr Campbell added: “Thankfully it is at an end.”
Sowerby was sentenced by magistrates in relation to both incidents.
An eight-week prison sentence was suspended for 12 months. Sowerby must complete a rehabilitation requirement by working with the probation service for up to 10 days, 60 hours’ unpaid work and a three-year driving ban
