Cocaine-taking driver jailed for fatal M1 Bricket Wood crash
- Published
Chloe Palmer, 19, suffered a brain injury in the crash and died six days later
A driver who lost control of his car on the M1 killing a woman and seriously injuring two others after taking cocaine has been jailed.
Chloe Palmer, 19, had been sitting in the back of car on a hard shoulder when a car driven by Bradley Lane ploughed into it near junction six of the M1.
She suffered a brain injury and died in hospital six days after the crash in November 2017.
Bradley Lane, 28, was jailed at St Albans Crown Court for 30 months.
Lane, of Pretoria Avenue, Laindon, Basildon in Essex, admitted causing Ms Palmer's death by dangerous driving.
He also admitted two further charges of causing serious injury to the other women by dangerous driving.
He was also disqualified from driving for two years.
The court was told Ms Palmer and her three friends had been out clubbing in Watford and were on their way home when the crash happened near the Bricket Wood exit, in Hertfordshire, early on 25 November 2017.
The 19-year-old driver was thrown out of the car in the impact and suffered serious injuries.
Another woman who had been sitting next to Ms Palmer on the back seat suffered head and chest injuries.
Double shift
A fourth woman, who escaped the vehicle, was uninjured.
The court heard Lane had been driving home after working a double shift as a driver, and had taken cocaine about eight hours before the crash because he believed it would help him stay awake.
The crash happened as he drifted across the carriageway and on to the hard shoulder, colliding with the parked car.
His barrister said Lane wanted to make a heartfelt apology to the family of Chloe, who lived in north London.
Passing sentence, Judge Michael Simon told Lane he should never have got behind the wheel, adding his tiredness meant he was not in a "fit state" for the journey.