4 days ago
Rugby star smashed into cars while high on drink and drugs in 'mental breakdown'
Rugby star smashed into cars while high on drink and drugs in 'mental breakdown'
The former scrum-half had to be woken by police after crashing into the wall of a warehouse
Simpson-Daniel hit cars and mounted kerbs before crashing into a wall
(Image: Teesside Live)
A former rugby player smashed into cars while "highly intoxicated" on drink and drugs after suffering a "complete mental breakdown", a court has heard.
Christopher Simpson-Daniel - a Premiership winner with Newcastle in 1998 - "risked the lives of others" after getting behind the wheel of his BMW, hitting cars and mounting kerbs before ultimately crashing into a warehouse wall. Following the crash, he had to be woken up by police who found him asleep and slumped against the airbag of his car, TeesideLive reports.
The "appalling" incident occurred on October 31 last year, with Teeside Crown Court hearing that Simpson-Daniel was in "a very bad place indeed" at the time due to issues concerning his former partner and his children and that he intended to take his own life having taken an overdose.
It was also heard that the 47-year-old former scrum-half, who also represented Worcester and Bristol during his playing career, had been diagnosed with early-onset dementia and probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Rachel Butt, prosecuting, told the court that Simpson-Daniel's BMW had been seen veering out of a lane on the A66 between Stockton and Middlesbrough and colliding with an Audi.
After that collision, the BMW had its bumper hanging off, but the ex-rugby player did not stop the car, and he was then followed by a witness who called the police and filmed the damaged vehicle.
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"It is clear from the clips that the defendant's vehicle is heavily damaged while the defendant is continuing to drive," said Ms Butt as parts of the clips were played to the court. "As he continued along the road, he's entered the junction and turned on to the wrong side of the road and multiple times, as seen in the video, he's hit the kerb."
Chris Simpson-Daniel of Worcester in 2000
(Image: Jamie McDonald /Allsport)
Soon after, Simpson-Daniel's car struck a Ford vehicle which was being used for a driving lesson, while he then mounted the pavement and smashed into the wall of a warehouse on an industrial estate.
"He again did not stop after this collision and went back on to Forty Foot Road into a large loop," Ms Butt added. "He failed to negotiate a bend and mounted the pavement then [has] driven straight into a large warehouse wall."
When police arrived on the scene, Simpson-Daniel was so intoxicated he was unable to stand, and he was unable to provide a specimen when taken to a police station.
He was interviewed by police the following day, but replied 'no comment' to questions. However, he later pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and failing to provide a specimen.
The court heard that Simpson-Daniel, of Oak Tree Close, Middleton St George, Darlington, had five previous convictions, including two for excess alcohol, while, in June 2021, he was convicted for breaching a non-molestation order.
Chris Morrison, defending Simpson-Daniel, said his client wanted to express remorse to the drivers, police and his own family, having been in "a very bad place indeed" at the time of the incident. He added that Simpson-Daniel had suffered a "complete mental breakdown" and had intended to kill himself by taking an overdose.
"This event is an event which took place and unfolded over something like 12 hours," said Mr Morrison. "My submission is that there is more to the man than this and that the court might consider that the displeasure over this offence can be tempered to a substantial degree by the circumstances surrounding the incident."
Explaining his client's medical condition, Mr Morrison added: "He was a professional athlete - a former Rugby League Premier League player who played actually for his country as a youth.
"Following his professional sporting career he made a move into other matters and was at one point a man in charge of a successful and profitable business. The physical toll of the sporting commitment lived on and began taking a further indirect toll upon him in a rather pernicious and striking fashion.
"The difficulty comes in the form of an illness called chronic traumatic encephalopathy. It's a degenerative brain disorder now becoming more widely recognised by the sporting community and chiefly seen to manifest among those who repeatedly suffer head trauma - rugby players, fighters and the like."
Sentencing Simpson-Daniel, Judge Richard Bennett told the former Newcastle back that he was not going to send him to immediate custody, and instead imposed a ten-month jail sentence which was suspended for 18 months.
Simpson-Daniel was also banned from driving for 28 months, while he must carry out 300 hours of unpaid work. He must also undertake a 120-day alcohol abstinence programme and will have a tag fitted to monitor that.
On the former rugby player's bid to take his own life, Judge Bennett told Simpson Daniel: "While that may have been your decision and indeed your motivation, and of course it it possible to have some sympathy for your mental health breakdown, you risked the lives of many others when you were driving around on that road and that was of course inexcusable."
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Regarding his medical conditions, the judge added: "Understandably that causes you significant anxiety and distress. Your intellectual capacity, and you were clearly an intelligent individual, has now been affected by your medical condition and sadly it seems your rational thinking and decision-making ability.
"This is not some woolly excuse put before the court; there is genuine medical evidence for that. Tragically that situation for you will not improve and will likely to deteriorate and your dementia will continue to deteriorate.
"The driving was appalling but I have to balance also your own situation in the overall scale. In your case, I am satisfied that there is a prospect of rehabilitation."
