A drug driver who was cleared of killing his friend in a crash has been banned from the roads. Christopher Hymers was riding an electric motorbike with Shaun Elliott on the back when a former traffic police officer failed to see them and made a right turn across them.
The bike smashed into the side of a Land Rover Defender in Greenside, Gateshead. Mr Elliott, who was not wearing a helmet, suffered fatal injuries in the collision on April 13, 2024.
Newcastle Crown Court heard how the former officer initially claimed the bike was going too fast to be seen, but speed was later proven not to be an issue. The force's collision investigation unit decided the bike had not been conspicuous enough.
Hymers was on an off-road bike and had drugs in his system at the time. He was charged with causing death by dangerous driving of Mr Elliott. Hymers, of Hanover Drive, Blaydon, Gateshead, denied causing his friend's death by dangerous driving, causing death by careless driving when over the limit for cocaine and cannabis breakdown products, and causing death while uninsured. Jurors cleared him of all those charges.
During the trial, it was revealed that the CPS decided to take no further action against the former officer. But PC Russell Blenkinsopp told jurors that the driver was to blame for the collision, save for the 'conspicuity issue'.
Hymers admitted drug driving, having no insurance, and driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence. On Thursday, he was sentenced for the offences at the court in Newcastle.
The court heard he was seven-and-a-half times the legal limit for a cocaine breakdown product and one-and-three-quarters over the limit for a cannabis breakdown product.
Brian Hegarty, defending, told the court that Hymers suffered serious injuries himself in the collision and was still struggling, prevented from working for some time.
Judge Tim Gittins told Hymers he accepted his injuries were 'debilitating', but said he should have been 'nowhere near the controls of the electric motorbike that night'. The judge said: 'You were over the prescribed limit for cocaine breakdown and for cannabis. That electric motorcycle was an off-road vehicle. It wasn't fit for road use. Certainly you shouldn't have been nowhere near that.'
The judge added: 'But the truth is if you had not chosen to break the law the two of you would not have been on that motorbike that night and your passenger Shaun Elliott would not have been fatally injured as he was.'
Hymers was handed an 18-month community order and disqualified from driving for 18 months. He must also complete 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days and abide by an electronically monitored curfew for two months.
Northumbria Police said, following the verdicts in May, that the former officer was investigated in the same manner as any other individual, including being formally interviewed under caution. A file of evidence was submitted to the CPS, which included consideration of his involvement in relation to any potential charges. The CPS made the decision not to bring charges against him, and he has been formally notified that he is no longer under investigation.
