Drink-driver jailed after causing runner to lose leg

A speeding drink-driver who struck a woman with his van, causing her leg to be amputated, has been jailed.

Nottinghamshire Police said the victim, who was a "high-performance athlete", was sitting on a pavement while recovering from a run in Racecourse Road in Colwick on 27 February, when Kyle Waldram veered towards the opposite side of the road.

He then clipped the kerb and struck the woman, who was left with serious injuries to both of her legs and had to have one amputated.

Waldram, 38, failed a breath test at the scene, police said, and later pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and driving without insurance. He was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday.

He was jailed for three years and 10 months, and banned from driving for 47 months.

Police said Waldram, of Station Road, Rolleston, had been seen speeding and driving erratically before hitting the victim.

Forensic collision investigators later determined he had been travelling at 50mph (80km/h) shortly beforehand.

After passing a line of parked cars on his left-hand side, Waldram continued on the wrong side of the road before striking the woman, the force added.

Waldram, who stopped at the scene, later claimed he had been unable to see the victim because it had been dark. He also told officers that she had run out into the road.

In a statement, police said: "In reality, the sun was setting and the stationary victim would have been clearly visible to a competent driver."

Waldram, who police said admitted consuming alcohol before the crash, failed to provide a sample for analysis while in custody.

He admitted the charges against him on the day of his trial.

Police investigator Sarah Butler said the victim's "life was changed irreversibly by the reckless and irresponsible actions of one man".

She added: "Had he been driving responsibly, this collision would never have occurred and the young woman at the centre of this case would have gone home that day as normal.

"As Waldram starts his sentence, my thoughts today are with her. She was a high-performance athlete before this incident and has lost so much as a result of what happened to her.

"I know this sentence will provide little comfort to her, but I would like to place on record my admiration for the resilience and determination she has shown as she works to rebuild her life."

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