A YOUNG motorist’s "misjudgement" as he overtook another car on a country road caused a head-on collision, leaving his girlfriend seriously injured.

The accident caused by 20-year-old Jack Malcolm Graham in October of 2022 on the A686 near Alston also left a child who was in the second car with a broken collar bone, Carlisle’s Rickergate court heard.  

The defendant, of Pennine View, Newbiggin, near Penrith, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing serious injury by careless driving.

Prosecutor George Shelley outlined what happened. He said the defendant was driving a Skoda Rapid along the road between Hartside and Alston, with his partner in the passenger seat.

As he attempted to overtake another car, he lost control and collided head-on with a BMW, in which a family were travelling.

The woman in the car with Graham suffered multiple fractures, including to her pelvis, a wrist, and a rib. The child who was injured in the BMW suffered a broken collar bone, though she made a full recovery.

“In his interview, the defendant accepted that he should not have overtaken,” said Mr Shelley. Defence lawyer Chris Toms said what happened was a simple “misjudgement.”

At the last moment in the overtaking manoeuvre, he said, the Skoda had clipped the roadside kerb. Graham felt the driver he was overtaking was travelling “rather slowly” after following him for some time.

District Judge John Temperley described the incident as “undoubtedly serious” and he accepted that the defendant’s ADHD may have contributed to his behaviour behind the wheel.

He imposed a five-month community order, which will include a 7pm to 7am curfew, which will be electronically tagged. He also banned the defendant from diving for two years.

Graham must pay costs of £85 and a £114 surcharge, as well as £200 in compensation to the child who was injured.