Drink-driver jailed after crash victim lost an arm

A drink-driver has been jailed for his role in a crash which led to a woman being in a coma for two months and losing an arm.

Leigh Brean, 43, collided with a bus and a Fiat 500, seriously injuring two women, near Bristol Airport on 28 October, 2023.

Brean, who had drunk 10 pints before driving, was jailed for three years and two months and banned from driving for 11 years and seven months at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday.

The family of one of the victims said they "welcomed" the prospect of one less "careless driver" on the road.

The court was told how Brean, of of Lawrence Road, Wrington, had been driving a Volkswagen Tiguan with two passengers along the A38 near Bristol Airport following a night out.

In a five-hour period before getting behind the wheel he had drunk 10 pints, Avon and Somerset Police said.

Once on the A38, Brean overtook two articulated buses on a stretch of road where overtaking is not allowed.

He hit one of the buses and then the Fiat 500, which was travelling in the opposite direction.

After the crash, one female victim was placed in a coma after sustaining traumatic injuries to her arm, which eventually had to be amputated.

The other victim suffered significant internal bleeding and bruising.

Brean pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and failing to provide a specimen.

The family of one of the victims said in a statement to the court: "The best part of this sentence was the length of the driving ban.

"We are aware of how many careless drivers there are on the road and the fact that there is one less is a very welcome prospect."

Sentencing Judge Martin Picton said Brean had caused "unimaginable harm".

"As a result of your actions, her life is now a shadow of that which it once was and she will never recover," he said.

"Your remorse will provide no comfort to the female victim, her family or her partner."

Avon and Somerset Police Det Con Victoria Anderson, said she hoped Brean's conviction will "serve as a strong deterrent" to anyone considering driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

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