A driver who caused serious injuries to three people, including two children in his own car, after crashing into oncoming traffic while in a "highly distracted state" has been jailed for four years.
Tancredo Bankhardt, 41, was driving his Vauxhall Astra at "a speed of somewhere over 70mph across into the opposite lane and into the path of an oncoming car," Mrs Justice Jennifer Eady told Norwich Crown Court.
The collision, which occurred on a 60mph stretch of the A146 near Loddon, Norfolk, on 26 September last year, left two of Bankhardt’s three young passengers seriously injured.
The judge noted that while Bankhardt’s actions were not deliberate, he was in a "highly distracted state”, making voice and video calls during his journey and displaying "high levels of emotion and distress."
Bankhardt, of Saxon Road, Great Yarmouth, was found guilty following an earlier trial of three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and one count of dangerous driving.
Two of the serious injury counts related to the children in his car, while the third was for Lukasz Wawrzenlzyk, 45, who was driving an oncoming Honda.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Wawrzenlzyk described suffering "three fractures to my pelvis and one to my sternum" in the crash, adding that he continued to "experience physical pain on a daily basis."
John Huggins, 43, the driver of an Audi also struck by Bankhardt’s vehicle, reported experiencing back pain after the incident.
Mrs Justice Eady highlighted that the crash happened at 8.33pm. She noted that "unlike" Bankhardt, Mr Wawrzenlzyk and Mr Huggins, who were both alone in their vehicles, "were both driving comfortably within the 60mph limit and in their lane."
She added: "Equally they both sought to swerve to avoid a crash. Although they were unsuccessful, their actions almost certainly mitigated the outcome of the collision."
The court heard that Bankhardt had been driving with his three young passengers for approximately two hours before the collision. The judge stated it was "certain" neither Bankhardt nor the children were wearing seatbelts at the time, with front seatbelts locked against seatbacks and rear ones "simply unlocked and unused."
Mrs Justice Eady said Bankhardt had been "repeatedly driving up and down the A146," at times "holding your phone in your hand”, though at others using a holder. He had been on a video call with his brother and failed to dip his headlights for oncoming traffic.
Dashcam footage showed Bankhardt "did nothing to avoid the collision”, while Mr Wawrzenlzyk "sought to swerve into a verge to avoid what otherwise would have been a full head-on collision."
"I’m quite sure the horror of the evening has stayed with all those involved," the judge remarked.
While she did not find Bankhardt was holding his phone at the exact moment of impact, she stressed that an "over eight-minute video call while driving is an obviously dangerous thing to do." She accepted his conduct that night was "out of character" and that he was under "personal stress."
Bankhardt was sentenced to four years in prison and banned from driving for 54 months. Simon Spence KC, mitigating, stated Bankhardt was of previous good character. A jury had cleared Bankhardt of the attempted murders of the three children in his car.
