Teen driver gets community service after ‘almost killing cyclist’ in head-on crash

A teenage driver who had recently gotten his licence crashed into a cyclist at a blind bend, leaving him with life-threatening injuries.

Peter Taylor’s life turned upside down after a teenage driver crashed head-on into him during a bike ride with his wife in the Leicestershire countryside.

Edward Seabrook, of Springfield Crescent, Kibworth Beauchamp, was handed 180 hours of community service and a 12-month driving ban following the October 2023 crash at Saddington Reservoir, Leicestershire.

He had passed his driving test 12 weeks before the serious crash on an unmarked lane between Saddington and Gumley, which left Mr Taylor traumatised and with long-term health problems.

He had turned 18 the day before the serious crash.

Seabrook was driving in his black Volkswagen Polo on his way to a football match when he struck Mr Taylor, 66, on the narrow lane, Leicester Magistrates’ Court heard on March 13.

The crash’s impact sent Mr Taylor flying over the car before he landed on the ground with a host of injuries to his head, spine and face.

His wife said she feared he had died, the LeicestershireLive reported.

Seabrook, now 19, apologised to Mr Taylor at the sentencing hearing last week, saying ‘I’m so sorry for everything. I’m so sorry.’

Prosecutor Sukhy Basi told the court: ‘There was a blind bend, and when the collision took place, Mr Taylor had been cycling from Gumley towards Saddington.

‘He heard the screech of tyres and can’t remember anything after that. His injuries were very serious.’

‘I could easily have been killed’

Taylor suffered head injuries, a broken spine, broken ribs, a damaged jaw bone and cuts to his face, other wounds all over his body and a broken toe, the prosecutor said.

In a statement read out on Mr Taylor’s behalf, the cyclist revealed how the crash changed his life and also affected his wife.

‘I could so easily have been killed that day. I hope the driver has understood how close he was to killing me and my wife,’ he said.

Mr Taylor said his wife has flashbacks of him ‘frying through the air and lying motionless on the road.’

‘She thought I was dead,’ he said.

The collision rid the couple’s enjoyment of cycling, Mr Taylor said.

He would have to sleep in a special mouthguard every night for the rest of his life as a result of the jaw injury – a daily reminder of the incident caused by the driver, the outlet reports.

He also suffers from ongoing neck and back pain, which require medication and weekly appointments, Mr Taylor added.

‘Prison isn’t appropriate in these circumstances’

David Rhodes, representing Seabrook, told the magistrates: ‘He has been incessantly checking with me to see how Mr Taylor is. His view is that if he could do anything to make it better for the Taylors, then he will.’

He said his client was glad the victim and his wife came to the sentencing hearing.

Mr Rhodes said Seabrook has not been behind the wheel since the crash and has been going to therapy for his own trauma.

He added: ‘He still has nightmares and this is something he will never, ever forget.

‘He took that corner way too fast. It’s something he wishes he could reverse.’

While a prison sentence was permitted as a punishment, the magistrates found that it wasn’t ‘appropriate.’

Robert Boden, the chairman of the bench, said: ‘The guidelines for this offence do include prison, but in our opinion that isn’t appropriate in these circumstances.’

Earlier, Seabrook had pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate driving.

His 12-month community order includes 180 hours of unpaid work along with an order to pay £85 court costs and a £114 victim surcharge.

He was also banned from driving for 12 months.

Before being allowed to drive again unsupervised and without L-plates, he will have to take an extended retest.

The sentence attracted scathing reactions from people on Road.cc social media.

One wrote: ‘Absurdly inadequate sentence.’

Another said the outcome is ‘dreadful in every way’ and that ‘words fail just like our judicial system.’

Last month, a driver was convicted of murder for killing Liam Jones, 22, to ‘teach him a lesson’ shortly after Mr Jones had pulled a wheelie on an electric bike in front of his car.

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