A man whose dangerous driving left a fellow motorist badly hurt after an A66 crash has denied deliberately ingesting an illegal drug hours before the collision.
Caroline Musimwa, of Penrith, had pulled into a layby near Stainmore to rest while heading to Cambridge in a Fiat Panda on the late afternoon of August 1 last year.
Ms Musimwa left her Fiat and took photographs before returning to the vehicle intent on rejoining the dual carriageway.
But before she could leave the layby, her stationary car was struck by an eastbound Nissan Qashqai which had veered across lane one.
This caused what an HGV driver witness called a massive impact — captured on dash-cam footage — which shunted the Fiat on to an embankment.
Ms Musimwa suffered what Carlisle Crown Court heard were terrible injuries.
She was rendered unconscious with paramedics initially struggling to find a pulse before she was transported to the James Cook University Hospital at Middlesbrough. “She recalls getting into the car,” said prosecutor Gerard Rogerson, “but has no recollection of how the collision occurred whatsoever.”
Qashqai driver Dean Shakespeare, 45, told police he had no memory of the crash. Shakespeare suffered bruising in the collision and was described as looking quite distant and vacant in the aftermath.
He was also seen to drink orange juice and water after the collision but two wagon drivers noted he made no attempt to check on Ms Musimwa’s welfare.
In an interview he admitted being responsible for her serious injuries and later, when brought to court, pleaded guilty to causing these by dangerous driving.
Analysis showed he had ecstasy in his bloodstream above the legal driving limit.
But he denies deliberately ingesting the drug and gave evidence in court in front of a judge who will rule on whether or not he took the drug on purpose.
Shakespeare spoke of working four 12-hour shifts in the days before the crash in his role as artist liaison manager at Kendal Calling music festival near Penrith.
On leaving the back stage area at 1.30am on August 1 he described approached by a couple on leaving the backstage area. He gave the man a lanyard advertising late events on site and accepted a drink in return.
There was no suggestion it contained an illegal drug and on being told it was fizzy water he believed it to be a legitimate product supplied by sponsors over the weekend.
He drank that on the way back to his tent, slept but woke hours later feeling unwell.
After more sleep he began a journey back to his home in York which ended abruptly with the crash. “I would like to apologise to Ms Musimwa for any injuries that have happened to her from this accident,” he said.
But Shakespeare said he had never ever taken illegal drugs and suspected the fizzy water contained the ecstasy. “There was nothing that raised alarm bells with me at the time,” he said. “I just felt that someone was being kind.”
His lawyer, Mark Shepherd, asked: “Did you knowingly ingest MDMA during the festival that weekend?”
“No. Not at all,” replied Shakespeare, of South View Terrace, York.
A judge is due to make a ruling later today after hearing evidence, before proceeding to sentence.
