'The driver who hit me got same sentence as he would have got if he used his phone' - Stafford accident victim speaks out

Dean Fellows was forced to undergo a through-knee amputation of his left leg after he was hit by a car in Burnhill Green Road, near Patshull Park on April 30 2022. He credits the Midlands Air Ambulance for saving his life, with both a vehicle first responder and helicopter attending the scene as he lay critically injured.

The motorist involved in the accident pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention at Cannock Magistrates Court on December 23 2022. He received a £500 fine and six penalty points on his licence.

Dean, an IT engineer, has been left not only physically injured but also psychologically scarred by his ordeal – something he says has been compounded by the sentence.

In national Road Safety Week,  the 49-year-old is highlighting his case. He says he would like to see a review of sentencing that recognises the severity and consequences of driving offences which take into account the suffering of the victim.

Research conducted by law firm Slater and Gordon, who are supporting Dean with a civil action case, shows over 60 per cent of people agree that tougher sentencing for traffic offences is needed.

Dean said: "Clearly the fact I had to have an amputation has been absolutely devastating, but the one thing which made me angry more than anything else was the sentence the driver of the car received - in many ways, that has been as hard to deal with as my injury. 

"At the very least, I hoped for some length of disqualification but what he actually got was so far from that – he was given the same amount of points as if he had used his mobile phone while driving. 

"This does not in any way recognise the impact of what had happened - I really want sentencing to be looked at and for judges to apply this routinely. There doesn’t currently seem to be any kind of rationale behind the sentences that are being given, what the motorist has done rarely seems to be recognised through the penalty they receive."

The car driver said the junction had faded ‘give way’ markings, something which influenced the decision by the CPS not to pursue a more serious charge against him. 

Since the collision, Dean has struggled with ongoing pain and psychological problems and has also been forced to scale back his job to three days a week.

He has been fitted with a prosthetic leg and has had to change to an automatic vehicle and reconfigure his mountain bike to enable him to get out.

He said: “I do still flinch sometimes when I’m behind the wheel because of what happened to me. I used to love my motorbike but I can’t think of going out again just yet and I have been extremely frustrated at finding the limitations of what I can do as a result of what happened. 

"My energy levels, my ability to play sports my ability to get upstairs in my own house – they’re just nothing like what they were before. "

Slater and Gordon have helped Dean secure Interim payments to enable adaptations to Dean’s home, and  allow him to access rehabilitation and a range of therapies - recently a final package has been agreed.

Principal lawyer at the firm Richard Crabtree said: “While Dean has been able to benefit from  rehabilitation and therapies which have supported his recovery well and have enabled him to begin to rebuild his life, the physical and psychological impacts have been profound.

"Understandably, the sentence given to the driver has been difficult for him to deal with. We would echo Dean’s calls for a review of sentencing for motoring offences, so that justice can be seen and felt to be done by survivors.”