An actress famous for her role in the BBC medical dramas Casualty and Holby City has admitted drug driving after she caused a serious accident just outside Deeping St Nicholas.
Amanda Mealing (57), who played feisty cardio thoracic consultant Connie Beaucamp in the popular shows, appeared before Boston magistrates on Friday when she admitted charges of drug driving and driving without due care and attention.
Prosecutor Marie Stace told the court, Mealing, who appeared under her married name of Amanda Sainsbury, was driving a Mini Cooper on the A1175 Main Road at Hop Pole at 10.14am on January 26 last year, when she drifted across the road and smashed into an oncoming Skoda.
The driver of the Skoda, district councillor Mark Le Sage, was on his way to work.
Ms Stace said: “Mr Le Sage remembers an explosion and his car began to spin. He started to panic, the car was full of smoke and he couldn’t get out because his foot was stuck under the pedal.
“He did get out and was assessed by a paramedic who said he needed to go to hospital.
“There was a witness following the Mini, who said he assumed there was something in the road because it went onto the other side of the carriageway.”
Ms Stace said that in a police interview Mealing admitted taking cocaine the night before.
Mr Le Sage suffered serious injuries in the crash and is still feeling the effects 14 months later.
In a victim impact statement which he read out in court, Mr Le Sage, who is a member of South Holland District Council, said he has been unable to continue in his job as a theatre nurse as his fine motor skills have been severely affected.
He also said he is no longer able to carry out his hobbies as keyboard player in local band Zebra and he cannot play water polo any more.
He said he has continuing problems with his sight and hearing, as well as suffering from constant pain in his legs, neck, shoulder, back and hip. He also has flashbacks and nightmares about the crash.
Mealing, who left Casualty in March 2021 after seven years, suffered a cut to the head, a broken wrist and a broken clavicle.
She admitted driving with cocaine in her system at a court hearing in Lincoln last September but had denied the other charge at her three previous court appearances.
On Friday the court heard she had 18mcg of cocaine in her blood, the legal limit being 10mcg, and in excess of 240mcg of benzoylecgonine (the chemical that cocaine leaves after being metabolised by the body) – almost five times over the legal limit of 50mcg.
Mealing’s solicitor, Edward Lloyd, told the court Mealing does not accept Mr Le Sage’s account of his injuries, he wasn’t taken to hospital by ambulance and there’s no evidence of that level of injury.
He said: “In terms of the offence, my client pleaded guilty to drug driving at the very first opportunity.
“It’s something she’s deeply ashamed of. She’s not somebody who takes drugs at all. Her brother died of a drugs overdose when he was 18 and she says herself that she should have known better.”
He said she was having a terrible time following the death of her father, her best friend and her dog, and she was also going through divorce proceedings.
She visited a friend where she took the drugs and stayed overnight. She drove home the following morning and was just yards from her front door at Deeping St Nicholas when the accident happened.
Mr Lloyd told the court that Mealing couldn’t initially offer any explanation as to why her car drifted across to the other side of the road.
However paramedics at the scene thought she was having a hypoglycaemic attack as her blood glucose levels were alarmingly low, which could have been the cause of the accident.
He added: “She simply doesn’t know what happened, she suspects that she was unconscious.”
No medical evidence was offered to the court that Mealing suffers with diabetes and Mr Lloyd said on the basis of the evidence, an expert couldn’t conclude that she was unconscious at the time of the accident.
He added: “She’s reluctantly accepted my advice that in the circumstances, she’s in a car, it’s drifted over to the other side of the road, so she has to plead guilty.
“She was horrified about what happened, she still is.”
The court heard that, as it’s still not known what caused her blood glucose levels to drop, Mealing had surrendered her driving licence.
The court heard she is not currently working as she is suffering from blood cancer and that she is receiving a “token salary” of £935 a month from her employer.
She was disqualified from driving for 28 months, reduced to 22 as she has already served a six-month interim ban, fined £485, and ordered to pay a surcharge of £194 and costs of £400. She offered to pay at a rate of £100 a month, which was accepted by the court.
No compensation order was made, as the court said this was a matter for insurance companies to deal with.
The court heard she had no previous convictions of a similar nature, but that she had been banned from driving previously under the penalty points totting-up procedure.
Speaking after the hearing, Mr Le Sage said: “I’m glad it’s over for my family and I’m so lucky and grateful for their support over what has been a very difficult time.
“I hope the Sainsbury family can now also get on with their lives.”
Amanda Mealing picture Credit line: Sipa US / Alamy Stock Photo.
