A GROUNDWORKS contractor has admitted causing serious injuries to a driver after a digger which he was carrying on a low loader hit his van on the road between Okehampton and Tavistock.
Peter Knight was transporting the excavator on the A386 at Southerly, near Sourton on the afternoon of Tuesday December 15, 2020, when the accident occurred.
Knight, aged 38, who runs an excavation and fencing business in Portgate, near Lewdown, West Devon, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving to Benjamin Pike while driving a Volvo truck on the A386.
Mr Pike, who is in his 20s and from Crediton, was released from his van by fire and rescue personnel and taken to Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, after the three-vehicle accident which happened at a corner between Lake and Shortacombe.
Police closed the road for 10 hours and appealed for dashcam footage after the accident.
Knight pleaded not guilty to recording false data on a tachograph on November 23 and December 15, 2020 and Judge Peter Johnson adjourned the case to allow the Crown Prosecution Service time to decide whether to proceed with those cases.
He adjourned sentence until next month, imposed an interim driving disqualification, and ordered a probation pre-sentence report.
He told him he would receive appropriate credit for his guilty plea.
Court Reporter