A man has been jailed after he seriously injured a young girl, whilst driving under the influence of cocaine.
David Campbell was driving down Bell Hill in Northfield when he veered off the road, hit a traffic light and a 13-year-old girl on the 3rd of September 2024.
As a result of the collision the young girl ended up being pinned against some railings.
She suffered multiple serious injuries including a bleed on the brain a depressed skull and a fractured spine.
Campbell remained at the scene after members of the public prevented him from leaving.
As West Midlands Police (WMP) arrived at the scene, an officer spotted Campbell trying to put drugs in his mouth.
He was arrested and the drugs were recovered.
During interview, Campbell claimed that he had suffered with epilepsy and didn’t recall what had happened.
He claimed that the collision occurred because he had had a seizure.
Campbell had been told several times by doctors not to drive due to his epilepsy. But he continued to drive, failed to take his medication and failed to notify DVLA of his condition.
Test results showed that he was under the influence of cocaine with traces of cannabis.
There was also no trace of his medication for his epilepsy.
He was charged with:
Causing serious injury by dangerous driving
Driving whilst unfit through drugs
Possession of class A drugs
Possession of an offensive weapon
Driving with a proportion of a controlled drug over the legal limit
The 37-year-old of Bridgeburn Road, Birmingham pleaded guilty and on Wednesday (14th Oct) he was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison. He was also banned from driving for six years and two months which will start from when he is released from prison.
PC Aroon Aftab, from Road Traffic Investigation Team, said: “Campbell had a choice that day and he chose to drive under the influence of drugs. He also knew that he was not taking his epilepsy medication and had chosen to ignore the advice of doctors.”
“The choices he made, and his selfish actions caused serious injury to a young girl who was just going about her day waiting to cross the road.
“I want to thank the members of the public who helped that day. They helped to keep the young girl calm in what must have been a terrifying ordeal for her.
“I hope that this sentence is a lesson, for people to think and make the right choice before they drive.”
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