A former Brookside star said he's sorry for seriously injuring two schoolgirls in a horror car crash.
Louis Emerick Grant, of Liscard, Wirral, was today spared jail after admitting causing the crash on Poulton Road in Wallasey while being blinded by the sun. CCTV footage played to Wirral Magistrates’ Court showed the moment Grant's car ploughed into the two friends, aged 12 and 13, while they were on a hatched area in the centre of the road.
They were both thrown to the ground, with the older girl suffering a broken right leg and her mum was horrifyingly warned that the limb might need to be amputated, though fortunately this was not necessary.
Natasha Williamson, prosecuting, said the other victim suffered more serious injuries involving fractures to her left leg, right ankle, jaw and nose and four damaged teeth, two of which she may lose.
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Speaking after today's hearing at Wirral Magistrates’ Court, Grant said he did not know how he could have lived with himself if either of the girls had died. The 65-year-old, who played Mick Johnson in Brookside, has visited both victims and their families to apologise following the incident and one of them had taken up his offer of panto tickets.
Ms Williamson, prosecuting, said the accident happened at 5.15pm on October 2 last year on Poulton Road, Wallasey, Wirral, as Grant was heading towards Wallasey Village. She said: “At the same time the girls, 12 and 13, started to cross Poulton Road and had reached the centre marked hatchings.
"His vehicle was seen to approach and cut the corner on the right hand bend to enter the hatched markings and collided with the two victims. He is not seen to slow down or brake.
"At the time the road was dry and clear and there was good visibility. The sun was present and he could be seen wearing sunglasses.”
In impact statements, the mums of the victims both told how their daughters have been physically and mentally affected by the trauma and had missed months of schooling. The mum of the older girl told how her daughter still has nightmares and needs surgery to remove a metal plate from her leg.
She had been in such pain she had wanted doctors to remove the limb. The mum said that signing a consent form for her daughter’s leg to be amputated if necessary “was one of the hardest things I have ever done…The last eight months have been horrendous.”
Both mums said that their daughters will never be the same physically and the 12-year-old has had numerous hospital and dental appointments. Four teeth were damaged and she may yet lose two of them.
Her mum said: “We don’t hold grudges with the driver. He has been in touch and apologised. I realised it was an accident, I don’t want him punished for an accident.”
Ms Williamson said that Grant, who stayed at the scene and called the emergency services, had been co-operative with police. But she added: "He should have slowed down if his view was impaired by the sun.”
Tony Nelson, defending, said that the defendant has no previous convictions and has been driving for nearly 50 years without ever being disqualified. He said: “He utterly and deeply regrets his error on the day in question."
Mr Nelson said that Grant had not been speeding, drinking, using drugs or a phone. He said: “This was human error. A momentary lapse of concentration and he thinks about it every day. He wakes up every day thinking about it and goes to bed thinking about it.
“The explanation is essentially the sun but he should have slowed down and he is pleading on that basis. There is no suggestion of speeding.”
He said that Grant has visited both sets of parents to apologise and met with one of the girls and took her an Easter egg. He is in touch with her and her parents every fortnight to see how she is doing.
Mr Nelson pointed out that there was little more that the defendant could have done after the accident and he has behaved impeccably. Mr Nelson added: “He made a mistake, we all make mistakes."
He said Grant’s employment is irregular and his average income is £500 a week. He has two children aged 12 and 14 and is the family’s main breadwinner.
He described him as “a pillar of society” who contributes to society and who is deeply remorseful. Grant, of Brookthorpe Crescent, Liscard, Wallasey, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate driving
Magistrates sentenced him to 26 weeks imprisonment suspended for 12 months and banned him from the road for 18 months. He was also ordered to pay costs totalling £274 and carry out 200 hours unpaid work.
Chair of the Bench, Peter Mawdesley, said, “Due to a serious lapse in concentration you caused serious injuries to two girls which resulted in them requiring surgery and taking time off school.
“Both received substantial physical and psychological trauma. Since the accident you have clearly shown remorse and contrition and taken various steps to contact the victims and their parents.”
After the hearing Grant said that the incident had been “horrific” and he felt he was in a daze but quickly composed himself and called the ambulance and police. He said: “I don’t know how I could have lived with myself if one of them had died.”
Grant said he had been on his way down to a job down south the next day and had stopped at a shop to buy a soft drink for the journey. “I think to myself, ‘if only I had not called in the shop or if I’d been longer at the till’.”
He had checked left at the bus stop and side road but did not see the girls in the roadway. Grant said: “The sun was in my eyes.”
He said he was on good terms with the victims families and one of them had taken up his offer of panto tickets. He added: “I am sorry for the pain they have gone through and I’m glad that they will make a full recovery.”
Grant starred in the Liverpool-based soap opera Brookside as a taxi driver, Mick Johnson, from 1989 to 2001. After Brookside, he appeared in multiple popular soaps including Casualty from 2013-2016, Last of the Summer wine and Coronation Street, where he played Mike Thornberry in 2018.
Most recently he appeared in Netflix's mini-series Cleopatra, released this year. He also starred as the Vice-President in Kung Fury 2, which is set to hit screens later this year, alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael Fassbender.
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