A VAN driver has admitted that his carelessness caused an accident at Brampton that left a motorcyclist with "life-changing injuries."

Christopher Ruddick, 51, who caused the accident by suddenly turning right directly across the path of the oncoming motorbike, later told the police that he was not tired and had no idea why he drove as he did.

Motorcyclist Alan Lancaster was thrown from his machine and suffered multiple serious injuries, including many broken bones, some requiring surgery. Doctors have said he faces two years of rehabilitation and may never regain full mobility.

The defendant, from Croglin, admitted causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate driving.

Prosecutor Pam Ward outlined the circumstances of the accident, which happened at 5.15pm on July 23 at the Carlisle Road junction with Front Street, near Brampton town centre.

The prosecutor said that the defendant was driving his Ford Transit tipper vehicle in an easterly direction. As he approached the junction with Front Street, he pulled into the right hand lane to turn right.

“In the opposing lane, riding towards him, was Alan Lancaster on his motorbike,” said the prosecutor.

Mrs Ward said another motorist, a woman who was driving in the same direction as the Transit van, could clearly see the approaching motorbike. The woman recalled how the van suddenly turned right, crossing the path of the motorbike.

“It then suddenly stopped in the opposite lane,” the witness later told police. Mr Lancaster collided head on with the van and was thrown on a nearby grass verge. The defendant braked as the collision happened, the court heard.

After being treated at the scene, Mr Lancaster was airlifted to Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle with “very serious injuries.” Though unable to recall the accident due to concussion, he was now "barely able to walk".

Metal plates were surgically attached to his hip and it is expected he will be undergoing rehabilitation treatment for two years.

Lauren Heasley, mitigating, told magistrates at Carlisle’s Rickergate court that Ruddick accepted that he was guilty. The defendant had said: “I didn’t see him, and I can’t explain why.” Nor had he been tired when it happened.

He had been driving back from Carlisle, having been there to prepare for a trip to the Philippines to visit his partner and child. A man of previous good character, Ruddick had simply not seen the motorcycle, said Miss Heasley.

A probation officer who interviewed Ruddick said his world revolved around supporting his partner and child in the Phillippines. He would lose his job as a result of the inevitable driving ban.

"His ultimate aim will be to go to the Phillippines to be with his wife and child," added the officer.

Passing sentence, presiding magistrate Kevin Wilderspin told the defendant: "We have heard about steel plates, and staples... These were life-changing injuries and his family must have been totally devastated.

"The witness had ample time to see the motorcycle coming and yet you failed to do so. This was worse than a momentary lapse. It undoubtedly crosses the custody threshold."

But the magistrates had taken into account the defendant's previous "impeccable good character", he said. They imposed a 12 week jail term, suspeded for a year, which includes 100 hours of unpaid work.

Ruddick was given an 18-month ban and told to pay £85 costs and a £120 victim surcharge.