Driver in footballer leg amputation crash jailed

Jan Adamec failed to stop at the time of the collision

A driver has been jailed for three years and four months for causing a crash which led to a footballer having both legs amputated.

Jan Adamec, 40, drove into Shaun Whiter and Joey Abbs as they changed a flat tyre in Newmarket, Suffolk, on 1 July.

Mr Whiter, 27 had to have his legs amputated after they were crushed. Mr Abbs sustained a serious leg injury.

Cambridge Crown Court heard Adamec's actions described as "despicable" and "callous".

Adamec, from Shetland Road, who had failed to stop at the scene admitted two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Shaun Whiter was 27 when he lost his legs after helping his friend change a flat tyre

Joey Abbs, a Soham Town Rangers player who has also played for Newmarket, was left with "serious" leg injuries in the crash

Mr Whiter, an estate agent in Stansted, Essex, who was due to begin training with Newmarket Town FC, had his legs amputated below the knee at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

Mr Abbs, who played football with Cambridgeshire team Soham Town Rangers, was trapped between his and Mr Whiter's vehicles.

Judge Jonathan Haworth told Adamec that while the maximum sentence was five years, he had taken his early guilty plea into account.

PC Ashley Bennett, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Roads Policing Unit, said he had been with the Whiter family and they were disappointed by the sentence.

He said: "Three years, four months, whilst it seems like a long sentence, with good behaviour that's reduced, and I think considering the severity of the injuries, it could almost have been a fatal collision... they're disappointed."

He said Mr Whiter was distraught and unable to attend court to see Adamec sentenced.

Joey Abbs' solicitor Eleanor Howie said: "The guilty plea entered by the driver spared Joey and Shaun the stress and anxiety of a long trial and the sentence handed down today has helped him draw a line under what has been a very difficult time."