Crash motorist hit with fine and ban

Catalin Zafin, from Leigh, was sentenced at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court to driving without due care and attention and being behind the wheel without insurance.

The justices heard Zafin, of Cornerstone Street, illegally drove a Peugeot 607 on Coupland Road in Hindley Green at around 11.40am on Friday August 19.

He lost control of the vehicle approaching a right-hand bend and spun in the middle of the road.

The car then collided with a van coming the opposite direction in an incident which injured his passenger.

The 24-year-old had previously been found guilty of both counts after a trial in his absence.

And even though he was not in court for sentencing either, Zafin was hit with a fine of almost £2,000 and banned from the road for a year.

Prosecuting, Nicola Yeadon said that the force of impact was so great that one of the vehicles was forced fully off the carriageway.

Zafin’s passenger had to be extricated from the Peugeot by firefighters and the other vehicle suffered damage to its front bumper and some bars at the front.

Mrs Yeadon said the police attended and footage from the van’s dashcam was handed over to the police to enable them to prosecute Zafin.

The court was told the incident occurred on a rainy morning with a wet road surface but that visibility was fine.

No evidence was heard in Zafin’s defence as he had not turned up and was unrepresented.

The magistrates fined him a total of £1,917, with a £770 penalty for driving without due care and attention and £660 for having no insurance.

He was also ordered to pay £300 in compensation to the other motorist, £110 in court costs and a £77 victim’s surcharge.

Zafin was also banned from driving for 12 months.