American who fled UK after crash that left nurse unable to walk jailed
An American who fled the UK following a crash that left a mental health nurse unable to walk has been jailed for nearly three years after being flown back to ‘face the music’.
Isac Calderon, 23, lost control of his Honda Accord while attempting to overtake another vehicle at high speed and smashed head-on into a Mercedes driven by Elizabeth Donowho, 56, on July 31 last year.
Ms Donowho, a freelance nurse who was on her way home from working at a hospital in unit in Hereford, suffered multiple fractures in the collision, including to both ankles, her sternum and her right hand.
The crash, which happened while Calderon ‘played follow the leader’ with an Audi ahead of him, was caught on dashcam footage that was played at Worcester Crown Court.
One witness estimated Calderon’s speed as being around 70mph shortly before the crash and had feared he was ‘going to kill himself or someone else’, prosecutor Simon Phillips told the court.
Calderon previously pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and was today jailed for 32 months.
Judge Martin Jackson, who also handed Calderon a two-year driving ban to be served after his release, told him: ‘Seven days before this accident you had bought a car and had not taken the trouble to make sure that it carried insurance.
‘It was the sort of driving one expects from arrogant young boy racers. This was an appalling piece of driving.’
The court heard Calderon was driving along the A4103 between Worcester and Hereford to meet a friend he had struck up a friendship with through online gaming.
The judge said: ‘You had held a driving licence for no more than a year. You were therefore on any view an inexperienced driver. You had not actually taken the trouble to familiarise yourself with solid white lines and what they mean, what they are there for.
‘Although you say you were doing “follow the leader” the responsibility for this accident rests solely with you.
‘It was your hands on the steering wheel, it was your foot on the accelerator, and it was your mind deciding to make those dangerous manoeuvres.
‘It is troubling that instead of attending at that first (magistrates’ court) date you chose to return to America rather than face the music.
‘Other people were clearly aware of the road conditions and driving safely. You chose to do the opposite.’
The court heard Calderon suffered a broken arm and concussion, while Ms Donowho has yet to return to work due to the far-reaching consequences of the crash, which happened on a wet road surface in a 50mph zone.
Calderon’s lawyer, Jason Patel, told the court his client had written a letter to the court expressing his remorse and taking full responsibility for his actions, which he was deeply remorseful for.
The letter apologised to Ms Donowho for incurring her injuries, and causing her to suffer flashbacks, through his ‘stupidity’ and lack of caution.
Mr Patel said he wished to ‘dispel’ rumours that Calderon was serving in the UK as an ‘American Army official of some sort’.
‘He was here working as an interpreter for an American company in Peterborough,’ he told the court. ‘He wasn’t going to see anyone from the SAS or anything of that sort.’
Calderon had been married for a couple of years, Mr Patel said, and was earning money in the UK to send back to his wife and his parents.
It was also said that his injuries meant he had to get a taxi to his workplace, costing £100 per day, before he was ‘let go’ when the firm found out about his involvement in the accident, and then left homeless.
He was then faced with a ‘stark choice’ and took up a contractual entitlement to a flight back to the United States paid for by the unnamed firm.
Calderon did not return to the UK on a commercial flight because he could not afford a ticket but had not opposed his extradition and had pleaded guilty during his first court appearance in Britain, Mr Patel said.
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