Smash victim’s fury at Linford Christie's drive ban
LINFORD Christie was banned from driving for 15 months and fined £5,000 yesterday after his car smashed into a taxi carrying a bride and groom as he drove on the wrong side of the road.
A victim of the crash that left two people with horrific injuries attacked the sentence as “very disappointing” after the 1992 Olympic 100 metres champion was cleared of dangerous driving but found guilty of careless driving.
Last night it emerged Christie, of Twickenham, west London, had paid taxi driver Naeem Akhtar £60,000 compensation over the late-night crash.
Newly-married Peter Ashton, 58, and his wife Claire, 43, both suffered chest injuries. Her uncle Michael Burt, 61, of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, spent two months in hospital with a fractured spine, hip, pelvis and leg, and can still walk only a few yards unaided.
He said: “I’m very disappointed at the outcome. I have to live with the serious injuries that Christie caused. Damage to my face was so severe I have several metal plates holding my skull together.”
In a statement read to Aylesbury Crown Court, taxi driver Mr Akhtar, 55, who suffered a smashed elbow and fractured both legs and wrists, said: “Before the crash, I was a fit, active man with a business and family.
I’m very disappointed at the outcome - I have to live with the serious injuries that Christie caused
“Now I have to have help from nurses and family in basic things like bathing and using the toilet.
“I am worried about my future and my two businesses and how I am going to support my family as I’m the main breadwinner.”
Christie, 51, whose Audi A8, hit the taxi on the A413 in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, on May 8 last year, admitted driving on the wrong side of a dual carriageway because he was lost trying to find a house owned by his ex-girlfriend.
Last night he expressed “deepest regret” for his “momentary lapse”, adding: “I sincerely apologise for one of the worst moments of my life.”