A SPEEDING driver who left a woman paralysed has been ordered to complete unpaid work.

Shaun Nawaz caused a crash on the A23 at Albourne which left Min Wilde with life-changing injuries.

He had overtaken a vehicle in the outside lane at speeds of up to 90mph.

But he then failed to slow down for 42 seconds and hit Ms Wilde’s car.

She was driving at 60mph and her car was sent up an embankment before it flipped over.

Emergency services were called to cut Ms Wilde free from the wreckage as she told them she couldn’t feel her legs.

She spend four months in hospital.

Doctors removed four vertebrae from her back during spinal surgery.

At Hove Crown Court, Nawaz admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Ellie Sheehan, prosecuting, said the crash happened on January 20 last year at 4pm when conditions were overcast and it had been raining.

Ms Wilde was travelling in the inside lane, along with a witness called Mr Lorrimer, who provided dashboard camera footage of the crash.

The prosecutor said: “Nawaz was driving in the second lane, and speed tests estimate he was travelling between 86 and 88mph as he overtook Mr Lorrimer.

“He approached Ms Wilde’s vehicle, driving significantly faster, and remained in that lane for 42 seconds without reacting to the presence of her vehicle, until it made impact.

“Ms Wilde saw Nawaz behind her in her wing mirror and then realised he was not going to avoid her. 

“She said ‘oh my God, he’s going to hit us’.”

Emergency services closed the road for several hours to rescue Ms Wilde from the wreckage of the vehicle.

Nawaz, 32, of Doria Drive, Gravesend, had been due to be sentenced at the beginning of April, but Judge David Rennie wanted to hear an update about the impact on Ms Wilde.

It is understood that she is continuing to recover from her surgery.

Last week, Nawaz again appeared at Hove Crown Court.

Shannon Revel, defending, said her client was concerned to hear about the situation of Ms Wilde and the impact his driving had on her.

Judge Rennie spared Nawaz an immediate prison sentence, instead imposing a jail term of 14 months, suspended for two years.

Instead, Nawaz was ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work and 15 rehabilitation sessions.
He was banned from driving for three years.