Man Fined After Police Officer Crash
20 June 2013, 12:03 | Updated: 20 June 2013, 12:06
A man's appeared in court to admit causing a crash that nearly killed a Hampshire police officer.
Darren Hankin was driving a yellow Audi S3 along the A31 at Four Marks on February 4th when he pulled out into the path of PC Nick Barman who was on his marked police motorcycle.
47 year old PC Barman, from Whitchurch Station was left with serious internal injuries, a brain injury and broken bones and almost died at the scene. He was taken to Southampton General Hospital where he stayed in critical care for over a month but is now at home continuing his recovery.
Mr Hankin, 41, of Bernard Avenue, Four Marks appeared at Basingstoke Magistrates Court on Tuesday where he pleaded guilty to careless driving. Via a statement from his solicitor, he accepted full responsibility for the accident and was fined £830 and given 9 penalty points.
PC Barman, who underwent 31 hours of surgery after the crash and still has further operations to come, said: "It's important that Mr Hankin knows that I bear no ill will towards him whatsoever. Everything that happened occurred in literally one 40th of a second. A moment earlier I would have had enough braking distance to avoid a collision, a moment later and I would have overtaken him. The whole thing was an accident and I bear no grudges, especially as Mr Hankin has been so honest about his mistake from the start.
"I still have a very long road to recovery ahead, but injuries willing I am determined to return to work.
"I would like to thank everyone for their support since the crash, those responsible for saving my life and my colleagues who had the difficult job of investigating the incident. I have had wonderful support from my friends, family, medical professionals, colleagues and from the chief constable Andy Marsh who had to deal with my crash on his first day as chief constable - that must have been tough!"