Holby City and Casualty star Amanda Mealing has admitted crashing her car into a nurse after taking drugs on a night out.
The 57-year-old actor, who played cardio thoracic consultant Connie Beauchamp in both shows, appeared in court under her married name, Amanda Sainsbury. The incident took place in January 2024, where Amanda suffered a cut head, a broken wrist and a broken clavicle.
Amanda Mealing car crash following ‘careless’ drug-driving
Amanda crashed into Mark Le Sage‘s car at 10.14am while he was on his way to work.
She admitted to driving with cocaine in her system and without due care and attention. As a result, Amanda was banned from driving for 22 months and was forced to pay a £485 fine.
As reported by the Daily Mail, she had 18mcg of cocaine in her blood, despite the legal driving limit being 10mcg. Amanda also had an excess of 240mcg of benzoylecgonine, which is the chemical that cocaine leaves after being absorbed by the body. The amount was almost five times over the legal limit of 50mcg.
Prosecutor Marie Stace told the court that Mark recalled “an explosion and his car began to spin” after Amanda’s car crashed into his vehicle. The incident happened on the A1175 at Hop Pole, near Stamford in Lincolnshire.
She continued: “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.”
The prosecutor added that Amanda admitted in a police interview that she had taken cocaine the night before.
‘She should have known better’
Mark read out his victim impact statement in court. He said he hasn’t been able to continue his nursing job due to his fine motor skills being affected. Not only that, Mark is unable to pursue his hobby as a keyboard player in the local band Zebra. He is also not able to play water polo any more.
She says herself that she should have known better.
Health-wise, Mark has continuous problems with his sight and hearing. He also suffers from constant pain in his legs, neck, shoulder, back and hip. Tragically, flashbacks about the crash keep reminding him of the nightmare.
Amanda’s solicitor, Edward Lloyd, fired back and told the court he does not accept Mark’s list of injuries after he wasn’t taken to hospital by ambulance, claiming there’s no evidence.
‘Deeply ashamed’
After pleading guilty to drug driving “at the very first opportunity”, Edward said the incident is something Amanda is “deeply ashamed of”.
He continued: “She’s not somebody who takes drugs at all. Her brother died of a drugs overdose when he was 18. She says herself that she should have known better.”
Following the death of her father, her best friend and her dog, Edward said Amanda was going through a tough time.
Amanda was also dealing with divorce proceedings and visited a friend where she took the drugs and stayed overnight. She is said to be “horrified about what happened” and “still is”.
Read more: Amanda Mealing on Paul O’Grady’s poignant final gift to her: ‘Now I’ll always have Paul with me’
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