Essex driver spared jail for A47 crash that killed racehorse

Jamie Mayo, 27, veered onto the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic heading towards Great Yarmouth on the Acle Straight.  

His Discovery 4x4 ploughed into a Renault Master horsebox being driven by Diane Jackson, 43, a long serving employee of racehorse trainer David O’Meara.

Norwich Crown Court heard she was almost killed and had suffered serious injuries including multiple fractures to her pelvis, legs, and arm and internal injuries. 

Lincoln Pride had won the opening race at Yarmouth hours before the Acle Straight crash (Image: Sky Sports Racing)

The racehorse, called Lincoln Pride, had won the opening race at Yarmouth hours before it died in the crash.

READ MORE: Horse killed and woman left with life-threatening injuries after A47 crash

Hollie Davies-Regan, prosecuting, said there had been no reason for Mayo to suddenly veer into the opposing carriageway.

His partner and child had been in the Land Rover when it hit the horsebox head-on and caused it to leave the road and end up in a ditch.

Ms Jackson was left unable to walk for six weeks and had suffered “unbearable pain” due to her injuries, the court heard. 

She has been unable to work in the horse racing industry since and still needs help with basic everyday tasks. 

Diane Jackson who was driving the horsebox from Yarmouth Racecourse suffered serious injuries in the crash (Image: Newsquest)

In a statement read in court, she said: “Before the crash I was very active and horses were my life, but now I cannot ride my horse and cannot do simple things like leading a horse out.” 

Mayo, of Rayleigh Road in Brentwood, Essex, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury due to careless driving over the crash on August 21, 2022.

READ MORE: A47 Acle Straight gets defibrillator donation from charity

Recorder David Stevens sentenced him to an 18 month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work after saying that immediate custody was not justified. 

Jamie Mayo leaving Norwich Crown Court after being sentenced to a community order (Image: Newsquest)

He also banned him from driving for 12 months and ordered he sit an extended re-test.

He said: “The reason you were on the wrong side of the road may never be known but the consequences are all too clear in the life-changing injuries to Ms Jackson and the sad loss of Lincoln Pride.”

John Dyer, mitigating, said witnesses had described Mayo driving normally prior to the crash and that it had been a “momentary lapse in concentration”. 

“He is absolutely devastated about what has happened, not for himself but for the impact on others.”