A teenager whose attempt to kill himself by crashing his car on a motorway led to the death of a lorry driver has walked free from court.

Polish trucker Wieslaw Szafarski suffered a heart attack and died at the scene following Liam Cousins’ dramatic suicide bid by smashing into the back of his Scania lorry.

But Cousins, a chef, was given a suspended sentence after a judge heard he had mental health problems and was unlikely to survive custody.

The tragedy prompted Judge Philip Statman to comment: “In my judgement this is an extraordinary and wholly exceptional set of circumstances the like of which in the course of my career both at the Bar and on the bench I have never seen before.”

Maidstone Crown Court heard Cousins, then 19, had been dumped by his girlfriend and failed to win her back at a nightclub on August 17 last year.

He threw a drink over her and was ejected. He then climbed behind the wheel of his Vauxhall Corsa despite have been drinking heavily.

He headed onto the M20 and, hitting speeds of between 74-78mph, and drove into rear nearside back of the HGV as they both travelled London-bound between junctions six and seven.

Mr Szafarski, 44, stopped and saw Cousins run into oncoming traffic on the busy motorway. The teenager suffered a serious leg injury when hit by a vehicle that did not stop.

The lorry driver called the emergency services but just over three minutes later he suffered a massive heart attack.

Passing medical students tried in vain to save him.

Cousins, now 20, of Holland Road, Maidstone, was sentenced to 12 months youth custody suspended for two years with a mental health treatment requirement after admitting dangerous driving.

He was disqualified for three years and will have to take an extended test before being allowed to drive again.

Prosecutor Stephen Requena said Cousins told police he had intended to kill himself. He was taken to hospital to be treated for his injuries and blood samples were not taken for six hours.

He admitted he had “drunk a lot” but no alcohol was detected in his system.

Mr Requena said Cousins had over a year before tried to kill himself over an ex-girlfriend by cutting his neck and hanging himself with an electric cable.

He also took his mother’s car and drove it at speed into a wall at Maidstone Prison, but escaped with minor injuries.

It was decided it was not in the public interest to prosecute him.

Judge Statman said of the motorway offence: “Mr Szafarski had a double shock. The defendant’s vehicle collided with the back of his lorry. He sees him running on the carriageway, then he goes back and has a heart attack.

“The defendant wants to kill himself and the tragedy at the end of the day is the man who goes to see what he can do to help ends up dead.”

He told Cousins, who was facing a maximum sentence of two years custody:”In the course of that journey you decided life wasn’t worth living and deliberately drove your vehicle into the back of the lorry.

“Despite the efforts of a group of medical students who stopped to revive him, together with the prompt arrival of emergency services, he died far from home on the side of an English motorway.

“They were the unintended consequences of your trying to kill yourself on the night in question.

“The public must understand I have to sentence you faithfully for the offence to which you have pleaded guilty.

“Your family are here because they love and support you. Your life to them is precious” - Judge Philip Statman

Cousins had a list of mental health difficulties that started when he was bullied at school.

At the age of 12 he was diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder.

He recently had preliminary psychotherapy sessions but there was a year-long waiting list for full treatment.

“You are aware of the difficulties you pose if you drink and have shown considerable remorse for what you have done,” said the judge.

“It has been indicated your mental health difficulties would be exacerbated in a prison environment. They are of the opinion you simply would not survive.

“You knew at the time you were driving something of how the events of that evening affected you and yet you decided to take this course.”

But the judge added: “If I send you away today you will be out within a comparatively short period of time and the public would see you have been punished by the loss of your liberty.

“Against that, if I send you to prison today the support you now have on the key issue of your mental health would be put to one side despite, no doubt, the best efforts of the prison service.

“That would mean therapy would be put back even further than it is today. I am unhesitatingly of the view to say 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years.”

Judge Statman ordered Cousins to attend court for monthly reviews to monitor his progress.

“If you dare breach my orders, then bring your toothbrush because on the next occasion you will be going off to custody,” he said.

“As you leave court today you just think how precious life is. You have got your whole life ahead of you.”