A car valet who knocked down and seriously injured a pedestrian while hurtling along a 30mph road at more than twice the speed limit has been jailed.

Jason Campbell was travelling at 62mph in a Jaguar XF when he struck ex-servicemen Brenden Hoare on a blind corner in Broad Oak Road, Canterbury, in January last year.

Mr Hoare, who says he “didn’t even see” Campbell’s car before it hit him, was rushed to hospital, where doctors said he was “lucky” to survive.

“One minute I was crossing the road, the next I had lost a few weeks of my life in hospital,” recalled the landscape gardener, who may never work again because of his injuries.

Canterbury Crown Court was told Mr Hoare was crossing Broad Oak Road - next to the Esso petrol station - on the evening of January 25.

Meanwhile, car valet Campbell had accelerated to 62mph in a saloon car he was using for work when he struck Mr Hoare, flinging him metres into the air.

Following his arrest, Campbell would tell detectives visibility was poor and he was driving within the speed limit.

But police investigators would soon discover the true speed he was travelling at.

And although tests showed the dad-of-three did apply the brakes, he was going too fast for them to be effective, prosecutor Sophie Murray explained.

In a statement read to the court, Mr Hoare said: “I don’t remember being hit at all. I didn’t even see a car.”

Mr Hoare suffered multiple fractures, including breaks to his ribs, collar bones, hip, pelvis, leg and nose.

He also required a blood transfusion in A&E to help stabilise his rapidly declining condition.

Mr Hoare said he may never be able to work again due to pain and limited mobility, while he requires a crutch to get around.

“I often ask myself if I will ever be able to move again,” he continued.

“It is frustrating not being able to move and go out and do things by myself.”

But he added he was grateful to be alive.

“If you had driven carefully you would not be here..."

Campbell, who has 14 convictions for 38 offences, could be seen crying in the dock throughout his hearing, often using a tissue to clear his tears.

Phil Rowley, mitigating, explained the grandfather-of-four was genuinely concerned for his victim’s wellbeing, and his remorse “genuine.”

He added Campbell, who was almost killed in a crash himself four years ago, was a family man and was “well thought of by his employers”.

The judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, told Campbell his dangerous driving “around a blind corner” resulted in the crash.

“If you had driven carefully you would not be here,” she added.

Campbell, of Vauxhall Avenue, Canterbury, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving at a previous hearing.

He was jailed for two-and-a-half years and banned from driving for three years and three months.