Prison officer guilty of careless driving offence

Prison officer Cory Pearson was banned from driving at St Albans Crown Court

A prison officer has admitted causing serious injury by careless driving after ploughing into a queue of stationary vehicles.

Cory Pearson, 27, of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, damaged five cars when his van crashed on the A414 in November 2022.

One woman suffered two punctured lungs and fractured ribs.

Pearson was banned from driving for a year at St Albans Crown Court on Friday.

The court heard he went into the back of queuing traffic at a significant speed.

He told police his brakes had not been working, but subsequent checks revealed no faults.

The injured woman had to be extracted from her vehicle by the fire and rescue service.

She said the accident had had a huge impact on her physical and mental wellbeing and her confidence had been greatly affected, with her mum having to move into her home to support her for four weeks.

Pearson was also ordered to pay £1,000 compensation and carry out 100 hours of unpaid community work.

In mitigation, the court was told Pearson was a man of good character and any prison sentence would impact his job.