‘Miracle’ escape for two Brummies after cannabis trucker causes horrific crash

A Birmingham car passenger was lucky to be alive after a trucker who smoked cannabis smashed his 44 tonne lorry into a Mercedes. The 38-year-old was seriously hurt and needed surgery after he was flown to hospital, while the car driver, aged 33 and also from the city, escaped with minor injuries.

Lorry driver Anthony Campbell, 55, was still almost double the drug-drive limit five hours after the crash and had smoked the drug before getting into his cab, police said. Officers said it was a "miracle" no-one died and issued shocking pictures of the wrecked car..

In a victim impact statement, issued via Cambridgeshire Police, the passenger said: “When I was trapped in the car at the scene of the crash, I thought I was going to die. After my release from hospital I remember seeing lorries diving on the roads and I was shouting ‘slow down’ and grabbing hold of the handles in the car. This was the first time it hit me how scared I was following the accident.

“I can’t believe that someone would be so stupid as to drive a 44 tonne lorry with drugs in their system. The whole incident has left me sad, upset and angry. What he did that day could have easily killed us."

Campbell, from Glasgow, was jailed for two years over the crash. The 55-year-old's Scania lorry crashed into the oncoming black Mercedes GL320, which was towing a trailer on the A47 at Guyhirn, Cambridgeshire, on January 3.

Campbell was uninjured but failed a roadside drugs wipe and was arrested. Five hours later, a blood sample was taken which showed his cannabis level at 3.7mcg per litre of blood. The legal limit is two.

He pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and jailed for two years. He was also banned from driving for four years at Peterborough Crown Court on Friday, July 12.

Speaking after the case, Pc Boris Kahn, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “Campbell displayed unbelievable recklessness and ignorance in getting behind the wheel after smoking cannabis. It is nothing short of a miracle that the driver and the passenger in the Mercedes are still here today.

“While they continue to recover from their injuries, I hope the victims feel a sense of justice and closure following this sentence. Anyone who drives after taking illegal drugs is putting people’s lives at risk and it is completely unacceptable.” Anyone with concerns about someone’s drug taking can report it to police online^[2] or call the dedicated drink and drug drive hotline on 0800 032 0845.

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References

1. ^{^} Police probe mass brawl outside Olton Tavern in Solihull after England Euros heartbreak (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
2. ^{^} police online (www.cambs.police.uk)
3. ^{^} Birmingham News (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
4. ^{^} Email Updates (www.birminghammail.co.uk)