An outdoor instructor’s careless driving caused his car to cross a solid white line in the middle of a bend on the A82 road near Laggan Locks, resulting in a collision that saw him and the occupants of the other vehicle hospitalised. At Fort William Sheriff Court this week, Matthew Jones, 40, who was described as now living with his parents in Northampton, pleaded guilty to careless driving on May 27.
The court heard the vehicle coming in the opposite direction tried to take evasive action but was unable to get out of the way of Jones’s Ford Focus because of the steepness of the verge and a fence. Procurator Fiscal Depute Matthew Kerr described how Jones had to be cut free from his car by firefighters and was taken to the Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, while the driver and passenger from the other car were treated at the Belford Hospital in Fort William.
Jones sustained fractures to his leg, pelvis, ankle and arm as well as a laceration to the spleen.