“I COULD see my foot was facing the other way,” said a motorcyclist who was hit by a careless driver in Tilehurst.

Richard Reed had been travelling from Broomfield Road up the junction with Norcot Road on February 5 when he was hit by 28-year-old Tino Chigona.

He had two plates and twelve screws surgically placed in his lower left leg after the crash and spent four days in Royal Berkshire Hospital.

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Chigona, who had been running late and driving without insurance, was sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Wednesday (November 15) to one count of causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate driving.

The court heard that at 10.48am, Mr Reed had stopped at the junction waiting to turn right when he saw from his left-hand side a white Volkswagon Caddy vehicle crossing on the wrong side of the road into the junction.

Chigona, who told the court his vision was impaired by a panel inside the vehicle, collided with Mr Reed. He got out of the Volkswagon and said: “Sorry, I didn’t see you bruv.” [sic]

The 28-year-old briefly left the scene before returning. It is the prosecution’s case that Chigona was not insured on the vehicle and was setting this up before returning to the junction.

However, Chigona states he was running late and his girlfriend had set up the insurance as he left the home but it had not kicked in until after the collision.

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He was breathalysed at the scene and tested positive for cannabis but the healthcare assistant was unable to find a vein at the police station for testing so Chigona was not charged.

In the meantime, Mr Reed was then hospitalised and was later discharged with elbow crutches and strong painkillers.

In a victim impact statement read out in court, Mr Reed, an experienced motorcyclist, said he felt like a burden on his family after the crash and that it has impacted his business as a self-employed carpenter.

“I thought I would be back on my feet in six weeks but the reality has been a total shock for me,” he said.

“I was in a significant amount of pain and I could see my foot was facing the wrong way round. There isn’t a day since the collision where it hasn’t entered my mind.”

He has been diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome and has been told he may suffer trauma induced arthritis in later life, which Mr Reed described as a ‘ticking time bomb’.

Defending Chigona, his barrister noted that medically Mr Reed’s foot had not twisted 180 degrees around but was in fact swollen.

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Chigona, of Whiteheart Close, Northampton, was given a 22-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.

He was also disqualified from driving for four years.