A HAYES man who suffered spinal fractures after being crushed between two cars by a reckless driver has criticised a court's decision.

Ernest Turner, 77, of Whittington Avenue, Hayes, was injured on September 13 last year. He said the accident has robbed him of his independence and cannot believe that the car driver involved was sentenced to only 180 hours of unpaid work.

Younis Abdullahi Said, of Clayton Road, Hayes, convicted and sentenced at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court last week.

The court heard how Said sped along Pump Lane, Hayes, at 51mph and lost control, hitting the first in a line of parked cars and causing a knock-on effect of vehicles bumping into one another until one hit Mr Turner as he crossed the road. He had just left Hayes Working Men's Club, which is nearby.

Mr Turner said: "He could have killed me and then he would have had to go to prison but because he has just wrecked my life, he doesn't.

"I spent 12 weeks in Hillingdon Hospital and had to have a brace for my spine, and then I had a major operation on my lungs at Harefield Hospital to clean out excess fluid because of the oil I had ingested from the cars during the accident."

Mr Turner remembers nothing after hearing the initial impact.

"This accident has completely changed my life," he said. "I have problems bending down now and I suffer from shortness of breath, neither of which I suffered from before.

"I can't even have a shower any more because I can't get into the shower. I have to wash myself with a wet cloth and am now depending on my wife to help me with a lot of things.

"Before the accident, I was working as a contracted electrician but I have had to give that up too."

A holiday in Florida planned for last September also had to be scrapped because of his injuries.

Mr Turner added bitterly: "I think there is plenty of room in prison for people like him and I feel he should have got at least six months.

"But his sentence just feels like a slap on the wrists - all the magistrate said was for him to go home and grow up."