Man jailed for causing fatal crash after taking drugs
Adam Bates, 23, was said to be "swerving all over the road" in his mum's Jaguar.
Last updated 16th Dec 2025
A young man who was on drugs and "swerving all over the road" in his mother's Jaguar car before causing a fatal crash has been jailed for nine years and four months.
Adam Bates, 23, said he had "previously been addicted to benzodiazepines and had taken one the night before" the crash on the A10, Cambridge Crown Court heard.
The crash killed 53-year-old father William Doherty and seriously injured his wife Susan Doherty, who was his passenger, leaving her with a bleed on the brain.
Judge Philip Grey, sentencing, said that a "hard-working, law-abiding family has been torn apart" and that it was because of Bates's "bad and selfish choices".
He said that at the time Bates was "using a number of prescription drugs that you were not in fact prescribed with".
He said: "Your driving was very, very bad that day. It's obvious you were severely impaired."
The defendant, of Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, admitted at an earlier hearing to causing the death of Mr Doherty by dangerous driving, between Stretham and Chittering on August 15.
He also admitted to causing serious injury to Mrs Doherty by dangerous driving and to driving without insurance.
Mr and Mrs Doherty were in a Mini Cooper travelling southbound on the A10 when, shortly after 7am, Mrs Doherty called police about a Jaguar driving ahead of them, prosecutor Marti Blair said.
She said that Mrs Doherty reported, in a call made on loudspeaker through the car, that the Jaguar was "swerving all over the road".
"Within minutes the line went dead as the collision had taken place," Ms Blair said.
She said that Bates had been "driving his mother's silver Jaguar and he wasn't insured to drive that vehicle".
The Jaguar collided with a road sweeping lorry, that was driving northbound, after veering into its lane, Ms Blair said.
She said this caused the road sweeper to lose control and spin into the Mini, which ended up in a field, with the road sweeper rolling and leaving the road.
Mr Doherty, of Littleport, Cambridgeshire, was pronounced dead at the scene.
His wife was cut free from the car and taken to hospital in Cambridge in a critical condition with injuries including a bleed on the brain.
The driver of the road sweeper sustained minor injuries and the driver of a red Seat car, which the Jaguar span into, was uninjured, Ms Blair said.
Ms Blair said that Bates "appeared drowsy" at the side of the road.
She said he passed a breath test and failed a drugs wipe, but by the time a blood sample was taken five hours later he was below the legal limit for drugs.
Ms Blair said it "wasn't possible to provide a back calculation" for what the level of drugs would have been at the time of the collision.
"He was asked if he was taking any medication at the time," Ms Blair said.
"He said he had previously been addicted to benzodiazepines and had taken one the night before."
Benzodiazepines are a group of depressant drugs that are generally prescribed for anxiety and occasionally sleeping problems.
"The most common side effects include drowsiness, confusion and visual disturbance," Ms Blair said.
"It can produce a state of intoxication similar to that of alcohol."
She continued: "The prosecution say the defendant was plainly impaired by his use of drugs."
The prosecutor said dashcam footage from the Jaguar, which was not played in court, "confirms the defendant driving erratically throughout his journey".
She said that in the journey, which began at 6am on the day of the crash, the car was "randomly speeding up and slowing down, often having near collisions with hedges and veering to the opposite side of the road".
Ms Blair said Bates had three convictions for 10 previous offences "mostly related to driving", including careless driving and driving with excess alcohol.
The judge said Bates had previously received a suspended prison sentence following a crash in which he only injured himself.
"You took the same terrible choices again," the judge said.
He said Mr and Mrs Doherty had been "deeply alarmed" by Bates's driving and "didn't just drop back a sensible distance, though it's clear they had done so - they acted as good citizens phoning police with a view to helping other road users".
Mrs Doherty said, in a victim impact statement read by the prosecutor: "My children have lost their dad and I've lost the love of my life."
She said that the "serious brain injury" she sustained in the crash meant she had suffered memory loss and been "stripped of many happy memories that I may never recover".
Their son Ewan Doherty, 22, said in a statement read by the prosecutor: "My dad was the greatest man I've had the pleasure of knowing."
He said his father had "worked 150-hour weeks" and "his one goal in life was to make sure my mum, my siblings and me were happy and healthy".
Nicholas Maggs, mitigating, read from a letter written by Bates in which the defendant expressed "my deepest and sincerest remorse".
Mr Maggs said Bates had "underlying mental health problems".
The judge jailed Bates for nine years and four months and banned him from driving for 12 years and one month.
Bates showed no reaction as he was led to the cells.