A man who left a driver nursing serious injuries after an accident in “appalling conditions” in the rain – has escaped with a fine.

Matthew McShane – who didn’t have a valid UK driving licence - had faced a possible jail sentence after being charged with causing serious injury by driving dangerously.

But on the day of his trial at Canterbury Crown Court the Crown Prosecution Service accepted a plea to driving carelessly.

The judge, Recorder Barry Kogan heard how the victim Christopher Skinner had been off work since the crash on the A2 near Canterbury in February last year.

Tattoo artist McShane, 40, formerly of Singlewell Road, Gravesend, had denied the dangerous driving but admitted the lesser charge.

“Mr Skinner’s injuries included a fractured neck, fractured sternum and fractures of two ribs resulting in a number of operations" - Recorder Barry Kogan

He also admitted driving his brother-in-law’s Seat Leon without a valid licence and without insurance.

Prosecutor Kyriakos Argyropoulos told the court that the CPS had accepted the plea because no-one had witnessed the crash.

He said: “This case concerns a road accident which took place in treacherous road conditions on the A2.

"There were pools of water on the carriageway and there was very poor visibility.

The prosecutor added that Mr Skinner, who was at the wheel of an Peugeot Boxer van, was then struck by McShane’s Seat which “had been travelling at excessive speed”.

A car driver, who had been travelling at 50 mph, later reported seeing “an explosion of debris” after McShane’s vehicle had gone past “like a train on tracks” adding “it was an accident waiting to happen”.

“However because of the poor visibility he wasn’t able to see the crash. So, how precisely the accident was caused we are unable to say, and after consulting senior lawyers and the victim, the plea is acceptable.

“It is not a decision the CPS has taken lightly" he added.

The judge was told that Mr Skinner, from Dover, who was in the public gallery for the hearing, returned to his job just days before the hearing.

He and his passenger, an ambulance care assistant Paul Patten, were both injured when their vehicle ended up on its side in a ditch.

"It weighs heavily with him because he never intended causing anyone any harm or pain that day" - John Fitzgerald, defending

The prosecutor said that McShane’s partner’s 16-year-old boy was also in the Seat which went into a field after smashing into the Peugeot.

John Fitzgerald, defending, said the relationship between McShane and his partner had broken down.

“And on this day she was being particularly awkward and nasty in relation to their child, he received a telephone call saying he had to pick up her other son from school.

“It was in those circumstances he was driving. It weighs heavily with him because he never intended causing anyone any harm or pain that day.

“He is extremely sorry and if he could take it back he would do so.”

Mr Fitzgerald said the car had been borrowed from his brother and he thought his South African licence would cover the trip.

McShane, a former underwriter, entertainer and London Underground worker has now moved to Cornwall to open a tattoo parlour.

The Judge fined him £1,000 and banned him from driving for a year, telling him: “Mr Skinner’s injuries included a fractured neck, fractured sternum and fractures of two ribs resulting in a number of operations.

"And he has only just returned to work. This has affected both him and his passenger.

“This was a serious case of careless driving, you overtook his vehicle at too great a speed. This was careless driving which comes very close to dangerous driving.”

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