A lorry driver who caused a seven-vehicle pile-up on the M25 while driving under the influence of cocaine has been handed a suspended two-year jail sentence and disqualified from driving for three-and-a-half years, writes Carol Millett.
Alan Smith, from Poynton in Stockport, appeared at St Albans Crown Court where he was also handed a 24-month suspended sentence, 150 hours of unpaid work, eight days of rehabilitation activity requirement and ordered to pay £1,500 prosecution costs.
Smith had pleaded not guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and drug driving when first charged but changed his plea to guilty before his trial.
The collision occurred on the anti-clockwise carriageway of the M25 motorway shortly before 6.27am on Friday 24 February 2023 near the exit slip road at junction 22 for St Albans.
The defendant passed several slower moving vehicles including a mobile crane and a white car in lane two prior to the collision.
