Miraculous escape as drug-taking tractor driver avoids jail after head-on collision
Footage captured the moment the crash happened outside RAF Mildenhall
A drug-taking tractor driver has been spared jail following a head-on collision outside of an RAF base.
Tyler Sowerby, 19, of Tallows Whins, Lazonby was behind the wheel of his tractor when it veered across two lanes and into an oncoming car outside of RAF Mildenhall.
William Davis was driving the Honda along the A1101 in Suffolk on 24 September 2022.
Prosecutor Graeme Tindall told Carlisle Magistrates' Court: "The defendant was driving in the opposite direction, in a tractor which was towing a trailer which was loaded with grain. He was swerving along the road.
“Mr Davis thinks he (Sowerby) will get back on to his own side but he doesn’t. He drives his tractor on top of the car, and the tractor turns over.
”When I show you the photographs you will be amazed there are no serious injuries.”
Emergency services, including two ambulances, were called to the scene with police confirming at the time that those involved in the car and tractor were “conscious and breathing”.
Analysis gave a positive reading for amphetamine in Sowerby’s system. In court he admitted careless driving and driving while unfit through drugs.
Defence solicitor Duncan Campbell said Sowerby had “lost control” of the tractor. “Thank goodness nobody was injured. I think this young man was taken to hospital, that was precautionary. The Honda driver was uninjured. It was not as serious as it could have been,” said Mr Campbell.
A detailed probation service pre-sentence report gave details of Sowerby’s “very difficult” background, said Mr Campbell.
And the lawyer told magistrates: “There have been difficulties that most people don’t have to deal with. He has had to deal with them. It is to his credit that he has done so.”
Sowerby had previously “delved in the drug world” although Mr Campbell added: “Thankfully it is at an end.”
Sowerby was sentenced by magistrates in relation to both incidents. An eight-week prison sentence was suspended for 12 months. Sowerby must complete a rehabilitation requirement by working with the probation service for up to 10 days, 60 hours’ unpaid work and a three-year driving ban.
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