Halstead: drug driver wished he died in crash, not his elderly victim

Callum Brankin, 23, a newly qualified driver was flouting the speed limit as he skidded around a bend on a wet road.

Attempting to correct the slide, he crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with a Nissan Micra driven by 87-year-old Barbara Bragg.

Witnesses rushed to help both drivers after the crash, in Mount Hill, Halstead, but Ms Bragg was airlifted to hospital and died the following evening.

After the collision, which took place on October 12, 2019, Brankin was tested for drugs and was found to have 2.2mcg of THC – the main psychoactive element of cannabis – per litre of blood.

The legal limit is 2mcg per litre.

Jailed - Callum Brankin

Brankin, of Oxford Meadows, Sible Hedingham, admitted one count of causing death by careless driving when over the limit for a controlled drug and appeared at Ipswich Crown Court on Friday.

Brankin knew his brakes were worn, but an expert found even if they had been functioning properly they would not have prevented the slide and resultant collision.

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Jude Burr, mitigating, said Brankin had suffered with depression since the crash and had shown significant remorse, adding the crash had “catastrophic and tragic” consequences.

The court heard Brankin, who works as a bricklayer, had expressed “he wished it was him” who had died in the crash.

Judge David Pugh sentenced Brankin to two years and one month imprisonment and banned him from driving for three years.

He said: “It is said you are remorseful, but I treat that with some caution, because within the pre-sentence report you stated rather than having decreased your use of drugs following this collision you have increased them.”