A MOTORCYLIST was left seriously injured and hospitalised following a crash on the A7 north of Carlisle when a motorist carelessly pulled out in front of him.

Yet despite the car driver being more than four times the limit for a cocaine breakdown product, he was never formally charged because police failed to meet the six-month deadline for making the decision.

Jamie Hay, 28, was charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving. But at Carlisle’s Rickergate court, the prosecution accepted his guilty plea to the alternative charge of causing serious injury by careless driving.

Prosecutor George Shelley described the offence.

It happened at 4.30pm on July 30 last year on the A7 near Longtown, as the motorcyclist was riding his Yamaha motorbike towards Carlisle. The defendant drove his car to the road’s junction with the Camelot Holiday Park, initially remaining stationary at the junction.

Seven vehicles were seen to drive past on the main road in both directions and, after a van had passed, the defendant pulled out towards Longtown.

He drove directly into the path of the oncoming motorcyclist. “The motorbike immediately collided with the defendant’s car,” said Mr Shelley.

The rider was thrown seven metres along the road, sustaining injuries that included a dislocated right shoulder, a leg bone fracture, and a broken thumb. He was not discharged from hospital until August 22.

Mr Shelley said a blood sample confirmed that the defendant had a cocaine breakdown product – benzoylecgonine - in his blood at a concentration of 233mg per litre of blood.

The legal limit for driving is 50mcg.

Yet the police and the Crown Prosecution Service failed to bring a drug driving charge before the stipulated deadline.

“But the crown still say that there was a controlled drug in Mr Hay’s system at the time of the collision. He accepted driving and said he was unaware of cause of the collision and thought the road was clear.

“He accepted that he consumed some alcohol and cocaine the night before.”

In a victim statement, the motorcyclist said that after the accident he suffered nightmares, recalling the collision. For five months, he was getting only three to four hours sleep per night and he lost confidence.

“He said he gets easily tired just walking,” said Mr Shelley. The man was still not working and he was able to stand for no more than an hour. He had been told he may need further surgery to replace his kneecap.

If he did this privately because of the waiting list, it would cost £22,000. He had tried to return to his job as a forklift truck operator but had to leave after 45 days because of the pain and discomfort he was in.

District Judge John Temperley adjourned sentence for three weeks so that a background report can be prepared on Hay, whose address was given as Glen Road, Deans, Livingston, West Lothian.

In the meantime, he will be the subject of an interim ban.

The District Judge told him: “I need help from the Probation Service before deciding how to sentence you. The report will cover all options, including custody.”