A MAN with a string of driving convictions ploughed his van head-on into an oncoming vehicle.

Sam Jackson has an extensive history of motoring convictions, a court heard.

These include aggravated vehicle taking, failing to stop following a multi-vehicle collision and driving with excess alcohol.

The 28-year-old’s most recent offence left his victim with a fractured sternum and crushed vertebrae.

The 50-year-old man spent two weeks in hospital and was forced to take four months off work as a result of the crash on the A326.

Prosecuting barrister, Adrian Fleming said the victim had suffered “some life-changing effects which are still ongoing”.

Jackson, of Cedric Close in Fawley, had been banned at the time of the collision after being caught driving with a mobile phone. - an offence to which he pleaded guilty.

However, the boatbuilder was convicted of causing serious injury by driving while disqualified following a trial at Bournemouth Crown Court.

Mr Fleming told how he had been driving his employer’s Vauxhall van southbound on the A326, and making his way towards Lymington, when a woman stopped her car and indicated right.

But Jackson went onto the opposite side of the carriageway “for some reason” to overtake, which resulted in a head-on collision.

Mitigating, Laura Deuxberry argued that the offence which happened on January 15, 2019, was very old and that the trial had been delayed by the Covid pandemic.

She said: “His speed was 26mph, it was not as if he was showing off or racing.”

Miss Deuxberry added that a custodial sentence would negatively impact Jackson’s family.

Judge Jonathan Fuller QC jailed him for 12 months and disqualified him for 2.5 years.

A spokesperson for the road safety charity, Brake said: “This is an appalling case and our sympathies are with the victim and their family. This driver has shown complete disregard for the safety of other road users with his behaviour and this case highlights the need for stricter rules to prevent disqualified drivers from getting behind the wheel, and the need for tougher punishments when they flout such restrictions.”