A civil engineer asked magistrates how he would get home to Southampton after they banned him from driving following a horror crash which left a woman seriously injured.

Ryan Phillips was unprepared to make the 109-mile trip back to the south coast city when he appeared in court in Maidstone.

The 27-year-old had his licence taken off him after he admitted causing the accident at the junction of Ashford Road and Faversham Road in Lenham, which left the other driver - Miss R - needing urgent medical care.

Phillips was at the wheel of his Fiat Talento van on April 3 when he made a right turn - colliding with the woman’s vehicle, which was travelling in the opposite direction.

The court heard he was on a hands-free call and failed to see Miss R, who had a child in the vehicle and was taken to William Harvey Hospital.

She suffered a broken sternum and wrist, a cut to her leg - which required 10 stitches - and has been left with PTSD.

Phillips, of Barons Mead, was later charged with causing serious injury by careless driving.

He pleaded guilty to the offence, which carries a mandatory driving ban, when he appeared in the dock on Monday.

Prosecutor Rajni Prashar said the crash happened at about 2pm and was caught on another motorist’s dashcam.

She said: “His white van was travelling in the direction of Ashford. He had pulled into the right-turn lane, but didn’t stop and hit the other vehicle on the carriageway.”

Magistrates were shown footage which showed the van hitting Miss R’s car.

Ms Prashar added: “The police were called and he was still sitting in the driver’s seat when they arrived and he admitted he didn’t see her vehicle.”

The bench was also shown pictures of Miss R’s injuries including the cuts and some bruising she suffered to her upper body, as well as photos of the damaged vehicles.

Ms Prashar also explained how the victim had undergone scans to her head, chest and abdomen and had also suffered numerous broken ribs and a partial collapse of one of her lungs.

“[Phillips] made no comment in interview, but he has a full licence with no endorsements and witnesses also provided statements,” she added.

“One witness said he should have waited before turning, but he didn’t put the indicator on.

“There was a child in her vehicle - I have no age or details about that child, but it aggravates the offence.

“I also have no information on the long-term effects it’s had on the victim.”

In a victim impact statement, however, Miss R talked about the PTSD and her constant thoughts of ‘what if?’, and wanted Phillips to know what he has done so it does not happen again.

Stewart Lewis, mitigating, said his client had been driving at about 15mph and had been working at a Co-op in Faverham Road, where he was returning to when the crash happened.

He said: “He told me he just didn’t see her and he needed to get back to the Co-op as he was working there as a civil engineer.

“He earns £2,400 a month and said he was thinking about the job and getting back to it. He was speaking on hands-free, there wasn’t a mobile phone in his hand.

“He pulled across and just didn’t see her; it was a lapse of concentration, a lack of sight, it was not deliberate.”

Mr Lewis also told the court it would greatly affect Phillps’ life when he lost his licence as sentencing guidelines carried a mandatory disqualification of at least 12 months.

Magistrates told him it was a very unfortunate incident that had had an impact on Miss R but concluded that, because of his early guilty plea, the matter could be dealt with via a community order.

As a result, they placed him on a 12-month order which will see him complete 80 hours of unpaid work.

He was also banned from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £114 and £85 court costs.

It was at this point Phillips revealed he had driven to Maidstone from Southampton and asked what he should do about getting his car and himself home.

The chairman of the bench said: “You must not drive.”