Norwich City player Flynn Clarke risked lives in A47 crash
Police said the outcome of the horror crash on the A47 caused by Flynn Clarke in which six people were injured “could have been much worse”.
Flynn Clarke has been jailed for 12 months over the crash (Image: Norwich City FC)
The 20-year-old, of Plumstead Road, Thorpe End, Norwich, was jailed for 12 months, having pleaded guilty to three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
PC Alex Thomas, from Cambridgeshire road policing unit, said: “Clarke drove incredibly stupidly that day and caused an unnecessary crash that left six people with injuries, including four of his friends.
“The outcome could have been much worse.
“I hope he has learned a lesson by seeing the consequences of driving so dangerously.”
Flynn Clarke had moved from Norwich City to Dagenham & Redbridge on loan this summer (Image: Izzy Poles)
The midfielder, who was signed by the Canaries from Peterborough United in 2021, was driving a black BMW 218i on the A47, near Thorney, on April 30 last year when it crashed into a Fiat Ducato Motorhome.
A Land Rover Defender then ploughed into the back of the motorhome.
Witnesses said Clarke had been driving “erratically” before the crash, weaving in and out of lanes, with the BMW’s occupants looking distracted.
Nitrous oxide canisters – a popular recreational drug better known as laughing gas – were found in the BMW.
Flynn Clarke joined Norwich City from Peterborough United but his only first team appearance was in pre-season friendly against Barnet (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images)
An image of the aftermath of the incident released by police shows the devastation caused to the vehicles following the head-on crash on the single-carriageway section of the A47.
The driver of the motorhome, a 59-year-old HGV driver who was on holiday at the time, suffered multiple serious injuries while his front-seat passenger, a 60-year-old woman, was also injured.
One of four passengers in the BMW, a 21-year-old man, also suffered serious injuries and had to be airlifted to hospital.
Following Clarke’s jailing Norwich City said it was considering the matter internally “in accordance with its own disciplinary procedure”.
He had been on loan at non–league side Dagenham and Redbridge this season.