A disqualified driver who killed a former soldier in a high-speed crash has been jailed for 10 years and banned from driving for life.
Rowan Grant, 34, of Bilborough, was driving at up to 87mph when he crashed into the rear of Andrew Lister's stationary car on the A610 Nuthall Road in Nottingham. The collision killed the 36-year-old father and left his partner, Laura Whatton, with multiple fractures and weeks in hospital.
Crash details emerge in court
Nottingham Crown Court heard that Grant had been undertaking and weaving in and out of traffic before the collision on December 9 last year. The crash happened at around 12.30pm at the junction of the A610 Nuthall Road and Western Boulevard, when traffic was stationary at a red light.
Prosecutor Luc Chignell told the court that Grant's car sped into the rear of Mr Lister's vehicle, triggering a chain-reaction crash involving several other cars. A witness described the speed as between 60mph and 70mph. Four-and-a-half seconds before the collision, Grant accelerated from 75mph to 87mph while trying to overtake a bus.
Judge rejects seizure claim
Grant told police that he was not driving and that his girlfriend had "run off" from the scene. He also claimed he had suffered an epileptic seizure.
Judge Stuart Rafferty KC rejected that claim, saying: "You were playing Russian roulette with yourself but when you pulled the trigger the bullet hit others and you killed a 36-year-old man."
The judge noted that doctors had warned Grant about his brain injury and epilepsy, but he had refused medication and instead medicated himself with cannabis. Hospital tests found him to be "considerably over the limit" for THC, the main component of cannabis.
Driving ban imposed
Grant had been disqualified from driving since 2011 and had several driving convictions since. He was also driving his partner's car despite suffering documented seizures around twice a week.
The judge disqualified Grant from driving for life and imposed a 10-year jail term.
