Newly qualified trucker, 29, left Range Rover driver with horror injuries in smash

A newly qualified female lorry driver is facing the end of her career after causing a rush hour accident with her 40-tonne vehicle during one of her first assignments. Katie Shepherd, 29, who had recently passed her HGV test, crashed into the back of a Range Rover Discovery as its driver was waiting to turn right at a junction.

The victim suffered a fractured pelvis, a lacerated liver and broken ribs. She spent seven months recovering but had to quit her job as a tree surgeon due to her injuries.

When questioned, Shepherd said she failed to see the Range Rover as she was checking her mirrors and was distracted by motorists parked in a layby. At Crewe Magistrates Court, Shepherd pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by careless driving and was banned from driving for 12 months.

READ MORE: 'No way manks f***er local': The audacious £1m cocaine heist that rocked the criminal underworld

She now faces an investigation by the Government's Traffic Commissioners which will decide if she has to reapply for her HGV licence. The incident occurred at 7.40am on October 21, 2022, when Shepherd was driving her Scania HGV along the A51 in Hurleston, Cheshire.

The Range Rover driver was waiting to turn into a private road when the lorry smashed into the back of her car and shunted it into an oncoming Audi. Two CCTV videos of the accident were played to the court.

Tom Quirk, prosecuting, said: ''The victim cannot remember much of what happened other than her friend coming and standing next to her vehicle and calling her name. She spent six days in Stoke Royal Hospital with a fractured pelvis, a laceration to her liver and fractured ribs. She was in lots of pain and was initially housebound."

Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features.

The Range Rover was entirely crushed whilst the Audi sustained front end damage. In a statement, the victim said: "The immediate impact of the accident was shocking and catastrophic. I just remember sitting in a mangle of metal and glass, feeling scared and confused and having no idea of what had happened.

"I spent seven months recovering from my injuries. During this time I could not work. I was self-employed so I claimed £70 per week incapacity which took a few weeks before it started. It caused extreme financial difficulties. My property is rented and I had to borrow to pay the rent.

"I had to sell personal possessions to make ends meet. It was six months before the insurance was paid out for the car."

She told of how in the initial period she would be tearful and needed help getting washed and going to the toilet. She said she became reliant on her partner.

"I could not sleep for more than a couple of hours at a time due to the pain and discomfort. I am anxious and nervous in traffic, at times becoming tearful. I feel so much has been taken away, as if I have been punished for something that was not my fault.

"Before the accident I felt I was extremely fit. As a tree surgeon I found being physically incapable very upsetting. I have been unable to return to the work which I absolutely loved and felt very proud of. I now have no strength in my fingers and pain in my pelvis."

In mitigation for Shepherd, of Woodridge Avenue, Marford, Wrexham, North Wales, transport specialist solicitor Andrew Woolfall said: ''Her attention had been drawn to cars parked in the layby.

"'She could see people milling around them and was fearful that one of the cars was going to come in front of her and pull out without realising that she was approaching. She was also checking her mirrors."

He added: "This is very much a one off. There has been no incident since, and she has had a clean driving licence up to that point.

"She was a relatively new and inexperienced driver having only passed her HGV driving test six or seven weeks previously and effectively being in her first job.

"'Previously she spent 10 years working as a chef but had a career change and funded herself to gain her HGV licence and then had gone on to start her new career before having the accident.

"After the accident she was kept on by her employer and drove something in the region of 70,000 miles in the year that followed, all without incident. The hope was that her company would be able to find a job for her, but that has not proved possible and she is currently not working.

''She is genuinely sorry for what has happened and the injuries. She was very upset in interview and could not bring herself to watch the video.

"She would apologise to this court and to the driver of the other vehicle. She feels a deep sense of shame and regret as to what happened. This was down to inexperience rather than irresponsibility.''

Shepherd was also sentenced to a 12-month community order with the requirement she completes 200 hours of unpaid work and was ordered to pay £199 in costs. District Judge Jack McGarva said: "These offences are about making a mistake but the consequences in this case were severe.

"This is someone engaged in a brief but avoidable distraction. I accept there was some inexperience, rather than you doing something you should not have been doing, like messing with the radio, your phone or the air conditioner. But the aggravating feature is that you were driving a a HGV. Obviously, that had a big impact on what actually happened.''

The judge said the issue of compensation would be dealt with by the civil courts.