A motorist has received a prison sentence after triggering several collisions that severely injured a woman.

Emergency services attended the A259 Grevatts Lane in Climping at approximately 5.30pm on May 14, 2024.

Eyewitnesses indicated that Adam Stepney was heading in an easterly direction when he veered across the centre white markings into oncoming traffic, setting off a chain of impacts before colliding head-on with the vehicle driven by the injured woman.

The woman, aged 60, sustained direct frontal impact and was transferred to medical facilities where she remains under care for injuries classified as life-altering. Stepney himself was also left with serious injuries.

Residing in Gratwicke Road, Worthing, Stepney entered a guilty plea at Portsmouth Crown Court on October 13, 2025 to a charge of causing serious injury through dangerous driving, with sentencing following at the same venue on March 20.

The court was informed the 26-year-old had been diagnosed with epilepsy and had neglected to report recent seizure episodes to the DVLA. While operating the vehicle, he experienced a seizure that resulted in him losing command of the car.

When passing sentence, the presiding judge labelled the circumstances as appalling, emphasising that Stepney had deliberately hidden his medical condition and chosen to keep driving, thereby endangering other road users.

Three years imprisonment and a four-year driving ban were imposed.

Lead investigator Tudor Wells stated the incident was wholly avoidable, adding that Stepney made a conscious choice to drive despite knowing he was medically unfit, and that the consequences had been devastating for an innocent member of the public.

Wells also urged anyone with a medical condition that might affect their driving ability to follow proper guidance and inform the DVLA, warning that failing to do so puts lives at risk and will be treated with the utmost seriousness.