Pembroke tractor driver left woman fearing decapitation

The tractor's trailer was overloaded with a metal frame sticking out by a metre either side, the court heard

A man who dangerously drove a tractor through a village, leaving a woman fearing she could be "decapitated", has been spared jail.

Martin Roch, 51, of Maiden Wells near Pembroke, pulled a trailer overloaded with a metal frame which stuck out "a metre on each side".

It smashed into the window of a passing car, Swansea Crown Court heard.

Roch was given a 24-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

He was also banned from driving for 12 months and ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.

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Judge Paul Thomas KC said it should have been "obvious" that the trailer was a danger.

Speaking on behalf of the prosecution at Swansea Crown Court on Monday, Brian Simpson said: "On the trailer was a metal shed frame which projected over the trailer by at least a metre on each side."

'I would have been decapitated'

Mr Simpson said Janice Wilson, 67, who was driving in the opposite direction, tried to pull over to avoid the vehicle.

But as it passed, the frame hit the pillar between the windscreen and the driver's door, smashing the door window and covering Mrs Wilson and her passenger in glass.

The trailer load hit Mrs Wilson's car, smashing the window

Roch waited for half an hour but left before the police arrived, deciding with the farmer who owned the tractor to remove the obstruction from the road, the court heard.

In a statement read out in court, Mrs Wilson said: "After the incident this has made me far more aware when sharing the road with traffic.

"A couple of more inches longer and I feel I would have been decapitated by the metal beam as he didn't slow down at all."

Roch had previously pleaded guilty to the dangerous driving offence on 8 April.

Janice Wilson feared she would be decapitated as the load smashed her car window

Sentencing Roch, Judge Thomas said: "It should have been completely obvious to you that driving that tractor and trailer would put other road users at risk.

"You drove that vehicle without any proper consideration for the risk it posed to other drivers let alone the inconvenience to other drivers.

"The car that you hit was written off, the occupants sustained slight injuries."

Roch will be required to pass an extended driving test before he can regain his licence.