5:00pm Friday 19th March 2010
A motorist whose car somersaulted along the A40 near Robeston Wathen has escaped any punishment after the legal process sustained a crash of its own.
Callum James Fitzgibbon, aged 20, was charged with dangerous driving after the spectacular crash, during which his Renault Clio spun in the air, hit an oncoming Vauxhall Corsa and slid 150 yards along the road.
Fitzgibbon entered a plea of not guilty to dangerous driving but guilty to careless driving.
The plea was rejected by the prosecution and a trial took place at Swansea crown court.
The jury cleared him of dangerous driving and Judge Nick Parry then dealt with Fitzgibbon for careless driving by fining him £500, placing six penalty points on his licence and ordering him to retake his driving test.
But within 24 hours the case was back before Judge Parry.
Today (Friday) Fitzgibbon's barrister, Ieuan Rees, argued that he should not have been punished for careless driving as the jury had not been asked to consider the charge.
And his earlier admission to careless driving "fell by the wayside" as soon as the prosecution declared the plea as unacceptable.
Mr Rees said Fitzgibbon admitted he drove carelessly, but that was not the charge he had faced.
Judge Parry agreed and quashed both the careless driving conviction and the punishment.
The court had heard how Fitzgibbon made a "misjudgement" when he overtook a Volkswagen Urban Fox near the Bush Inn between Robeston Wathen and Canaston Bridge on February 16th last year.
Fitzgibbon, of Arthur Street in Cardiff, had to swerve in front of the Urban Fox, driven by Mrs Jennifer Mogford, to avoid oncoming traffic.
But he turned the wheel so violently he lost control and his Renault Clio became airborne.
Despite the impact, Fitzgibbon and his passenger were able to get out of the Clio unaided.
A motorist who saw Fitzgibbon overtaking vehicles, Mrs Sally Frost, of Narberth, described him as behaving like a Formula One driver.
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