Heathfield man spared jail

A HEATHFIELD man has been spared jail after speeding along a busy road with his family and crashing into another car, seriously injuring one of his children.

Witnesses reported how Michael Willis, 29, had sped past them on the A272 between Cooper s Green and Buxted in June last year.

One driver saw Willis, who was driving to pick up his girlfriend from work, brake sharply on a corner before the accident which wrote-off the Escort car.

Willis, who it was claimed reached speeds of up to 80mph, had three of his four children in the car at the time of the crash.

Lewes Crown Court heard Willis had also been charged with possession of drugs after being caught by police throwing wraps of amphetamine sulphate out of the window of his home in March, 2000.

Sentencing Willis, of Newnham Way, for dangerous driving and possession of drugs, Judge Richard Brown gave him a nine month sentence suspended for two year.

He told the defendant he had spared him a jail sentence because of his exceptional circumstances after the court heard he had custody of his four children because of his ex-wife s health problems.

Guy Russell, prosecuting, said: 'Police went to a house in Newnham Way, Heathfield, on March 1, 2000, with a search warrant.

'An officer went around the back of the house and saw a male throwing a package out of the window. It contained 29 bags of amphetamine sulphate with a street value of 250.

'The dangerous driving offence on June 22, 2000, relates to a road crash on the A272 between Cooper s Green and Buxted.

'Statements from witnesses include a man who was overtaken by an Escort driving at a speed of about 80mph in a 40mph speed limit.

'In the witness statement of another driver, she saw the vehicle travelling behind her. It tried to overtake but couldn t because another vehicle was approaching.

'It then drove very close behind her and she said this made her scared. It then overtook and carried on driving on the wrong side of the road.

'Another driver travelling in the opposite direction saw the car go past at about 70mph. He watched in his rear-view mirror as it approached a corner and saw the brake lights come on.

'It was here the car crashed. His children were also in the car and were aged ten, eight, and six at the time. The car was a write-off and one child was injured.

Eloise Marshall, defending, said: 'The defendant said from the outset he was not doing 80mph. He has little recollection of the accident itself or what happened prior to it.

'One child was seriously injured in the accident he is very ashamed and bears much guilt.

'Since the date of that he and his family have made great differences in the way the children are brought up.

'He had four children with a wife who was older than him. She had mental health problems which is why he has custody of the children.

'He asks this court to give him another chance he is normally a good family man and now has a new partner, with whom he s had a baby, and she is helping him bring up his children.