'My life changed forever after motorcycle accident'

A motorcycle passenger who suffered life-changing injuries when the bike she was travelling on was hit by a car has said she is "not the same person she was before".

Anna Cockcroft spent more than a month in hospital following the crash in Oldham Road, Halifax, on 21 September 2023.

Her then boyfriend Bradley Porter - who had been riding the bike - was also seriously injured when a car driven by 60-year-old Brendan Calcott rounded a corner on the wrong side of the road and smashed into them.

Speaking after Calcott was sentenced for causing serious injury by dangerous driving, Miss Cockroft said her life would "never be the same".

The 27-year-old, from Halifax, said she had only been in a relationship with Mr Porter for 11 days when the crash happened.

"I remember the whole crash," she said.

"I remember flying through the air.

"I remember landing and my first thought when I was lying on the side of the road was that I thought [Bradley] was dead and I was going to die."

Both Miss Cockroft and Mr Porter, also from Halifax, underwent surgery after they suffered serious injuries, including multiple fractured bones.

Miss Cockroft, who has a nine-year-old son, also had to spend a month in a major trauma ward and said she now has to rely on her family for help with basic tasks.

"I can't look after my son properly," she said.

"I can't play football with him, I can't take him to his extra-curricula, someone else takes him to school for me.

"I can't enjoy life with my son like I could before, that has been the heart-breaking side of it."

She said her mental health had also been affected by the crash.

"I'm depressed, I get anxiety in public, I was diagnosed with chronic PTSD, travel anxiety," she said.

"I'm not the same person I was before.

"I was very confident, very happy, loving life - now everything is difficult to do."

Calcott of Mixenden Road, Halifax, was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court after pleading guilty to two charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

His defence solicitor Tom Gent said his client had not seen the motorcycle the young couple were on and had allowed his car to stray into the opposing lane.

He told the court he "bitterly regrets his actions" and was "extremely sorry" to both victims.

Sentencing Calcott to two years in prison, suspended for 18 months, Judge Sophie McKone said: "I have just, and only just, decided on balance that your sentence can be suspended."

She said that Calcott had had a clean licence since a previous drink driving conviction in 1997 and had good character references.

He was ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work, disqualified from driving for 18 months and told to pay compensations to the victims.

Miss Cockroft said: "I hope that I can now put this chapter behind me.

"My life will never be the same [but] I'm going to try to move past it."

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