Stoned woman crashed into van driver on Leicestershire road she thought was a dual carriageway

A van driver coming the opposite way was seriously hurt and spent eight weeks in hospital

06:00, 17 May 2026

The crash happened on Rugby Road between Swinford and the A5 junction(Image: Google)

A young woman who was under the influence of drugs thought she was driving on a dual carriageway, resulting in a head-on collision that left a 49-year-old man with life-changing injuries.

Elsbeth Bradley, a 20-year-old student, had been driving her boyfriend along Rugby Road, Swinford, near Lutterworth[1], heading into the village.

A van driver, driving home after visiting his parents, turned a bend to find Bradley's VW Polo coming straight at him on his side of the road. He tried to swerve but was unable to prevent a collision.

The crash, in August last year, led to an eight-week stay in hospital for the man, and he still uses crutches.

He attended Leicester Crown Court[2] on Friday (May 15) to see Bradley, now 21, of Crown Woods Way, Greenwich, London, being sentenced by Judge Steven Evans.

Bradley, a final year student of equine studies at university in Chelmsford, Essex, was uninjured. She later pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving[3] and driving over the limit for cannabis.

Judge Evans said it seemed that the drugs were the only reason Bradley mistook the road for a dual carriageway.

Prosecutor Tony Stanford agreed: "It was clearly a single carriageway - there's no way anyone could have mistaken it for a dual carriageway."

He listed the victim's injuries, which included spinal damage, broken ribs, hand bones, hip and pelvis and internal injuries, including a punctured lung that required surgeons to drain his chest cavity. He also needed surgery on his hand.

He was also referred to neurosurgeons and still suffers from memory issues and irritability.

The victim said private surgeons he had been to about the ongoing spinal issues had no answers for him and recommended he "learn to live with the pain".

In his victim statement, he described the "truly traumatic results" of the crash, which had ruined his machinery maintenance business, which he had built up over several years, and stopped him from enjoying his hobbies, including windsurfing and cycling.

He added: "I was appalled the driver of the other vehicle never came near to see if they could help."

Harriet Palfreman, representing Bradley, said she had been in the car with her boyfriend, who was a "negative influence" and that the relationship was now over.

She said: "She has made efforts to remove those influences from her life."

She said her client planned to finish her studies and start a business working with animals if she was spared jail.

She said Bradley was remorseful. She said: "This is her first experience of the judicial system and, of course, this has taken an emotional toll on her, also.

"Miss Bradley makes no attempt to shift the blame."

Judge Evans said only her young age had saved her from being sent to custody.

He said: "At your age, the damage [of custody] would be significant.

"I'm sure that you hugely regret this because of the impact it's had on all aspects of his life.

"You chose to get in that car and drive, having imbibed cannabis, and your driving was critically affected.

"For a mature adult in your circumstances, there would be no question [of suspending the sentence]."

She was given a 15-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, and disqualified from driving for 30 months, after which she will have to take an extended retest.

She was also ordered to pay the victim compensation of ?12,000.

And she will have to do 200 hours of unpaid work.

References

1. ^ Lutterworth (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
2. ^ Leicester Crown Court (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
3. ^ causing serious injury by dangerous driving (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)