The heartbreaking reasons why Casualty and Holby City actress Amanda Mealing snorted cocaine and caused a horrific car crash have been revealed.
Mealing, 57, was said to have been dealing with the traumatic deaths of her father, her best friend and her dog when she took the Class A drug the night before the smash.
Magistrates heard how she also turned to cocaine while going through divorce proceedings on top of the trio of tragedies in her life.
As well as everything else, her solicitor revealed that she was also now battling blood cancer.
Mealing who played cardio thoracic consultant Connie Beauchamp in the hit BBC medical dramas took cocaine when she visited a friend and stayed overnight.
She was driving home the next day when her car drifted across the road and smashed into an oncoming Skoda being driven by nurse Mark Le Sage who was seriously injured and had to give up his career as a result.
The accident happened at 10.14am on January 26 last year just yards away from her front door in Deeping St Nicholas, Lincolnshire.
Mealing who appeared in court under her married name of Amanda Sainsbury, suffered a cut to the head, a broken wrist and a broken clavicle in the crash, and tested positive for cocaine in a roadside test.
Magistrates heard Amanda Mealing drifted across a road before colliding with Mark Le Sage’s vehicle as he was on his way to work
Prosecutor Marie Stace told the court Mealing suffered a cut to the head, a broken wrist and a broken clavicle in the January 2024 smash (pictured)
She admitted driving with cocaine in her system and driving without due care and attention and was banned from driving for 28 months, reduced to 22 months as she had already served a six month interim ban.
Mealing whose brother died of a drugs overdose when he was aged 18 was also fined £485, and ordered to pay £400 costs and a surcharge of £194. She offered to pay at a rate of £100 a month, which was accepted by the court.
Her solicitor Edward Lloyd detailed the pressures she was under at the time of the accident, saying: ‘Unfortunately it came at a terrible moment in her life.
‘She tells me she was undergoing divorce proceedings from her husband, which was extremely upsetting.
‘Within a short space of time her father had died, she had to put her dog down and her best friend had died. So all of these events occurred. It was deeply, deeply upsetting.
‘She is, however, a lady who has significant health problems. She suffers from blood cancer, so she’s not working at the present time.’
Mark Le Sage was seriously injured and had to give up his career as a result
The actress has appeared in the hit film Four Weddings and a Funeral as well as directing episodes of Casualty, Waterloo Road and Coronation Street
Mealing admitted driving with cocaine in her system at a previous court hearing in Lincoln last September, but had denied driving without due car and attention before changing her plea.
The actress, who has also appeared in the hit film Four Weddings and a Funeral as well as directing episodes of Casualty, Waterloo Road and Coronation Street, had 18mcg of cocaine in her blood, the legal limit being 10mcg.
She also had in excess of 240mcg of benzoylecgonine (the chemical that cocaine leaves after being metabolised by the body) – almost five times over the legal limit of 50mcg.
Prosecutor Marie Stace said Mr Le Sage, who is also a district councillor, remembered ‘an explosion and his car began to spin’ after Mealing’s Mini Cooper smashed into his Skoda on the A1175 at Hop Pole, near Stamford in Lincolnshire.
She added: ‘He started to panic, the car was full of smoke and he couldn’t get out because his foot was stuck under the pedal.
‘He did get out and was assessed by a paramedic who said he needed to go to hospital.
‘There was a witness following the Mini, who said he assumed there was something in the road because it went onto the other side of the carriageway.’
She admitted driving with cocaine in her system and driving without due care and attention and was banned from driving for 22 months and ordered to pay a fine of £485. Pictured: In 2018, left, and 2012, right
Boston magistrates court heard how Mealin, who left Casualty in March 2021 after seven years in the show, admitted in a police interview that she had taken cocaine the night before the crash.
The Spalding and South Holland Voice reported Mr Le Sage was still feeling the effects of his serious injuries more than 14 months after the crash.
Mr Le Sage, a member of the independent group on South Holland District Council, said he has been unable to continue in his job as a theatre nurse as his fine motor skills had been severely affected.
He added in a victim impact statement which was read out in court that he was no longer able to play water polo and had to buy a lighter keyboard to enable him to carry on playing with local band Zebra.
Mr Le Sage also said that he had continuing problems with his sight and hearing, as well as constant pain in his legs, neck, shoulder, back and hip. He also has flashbacks and nightmares about the crash.
Mealing’s solicitor Mr Lloyd told the court that she did not accept Mr Le Sage’s account of his injuries, as he was not taken to hospital by ambulance and there was no evidence of that level of injury.
He said: ‘In terms of the offence, my client pleaded guilty to drug driving at the very first opportunity.
‘It’s something she’s deeply ashamed of. She’s not somebody who takes drugs at all. Her brother died of a drugs overdose when he was 18 and she says herself that she should have known better.’
Mr Lloyd told the court that Mealing couldn’t initially offer any explanation as to why her car drifted across to the other side of the road.
Mealing left Casualty in March 2021 after seven years
However, paramedics at the scene thought she was having a hypoglycaemic attack as her blood glucose levels were alarmingly low, which could have been the cause of the accident.
He added: ‘She simply doesn’t know what happened, she suspects that she was unconscious.’
No medical evidence was offered to the court that Mealing suffers with diabetes and Mr Lloyd said on the basis of the evidence, an expert couldn’t conclude that she was unconscious at the time of the accident.
Mr Lloyd added: ‘She’s reluctantly accepted my advice that in the circumstances, she’s in a car, it’s drifted over to the other side of the road, so she has to plead guilty. She was horrified about what happened, she still is.’
Mealing had already surrendered her driving licence as it was still not known what caused her blood glucose levels to drop, said Mr Lloyd.
The court heard she was not currently working due to her blood cancer and was receiving a ‘token salary’ of £935 a month from her employer.
No compensation order was made, as the court said this was a matter for insurance companies to deal with.
The court heard she had no previous convictions of a similar nature, but that she had been banned from driving previously under the penalty points totting-up procedure.
Speaking after the hearing last Friday, Mr Le Sage said: ‘I’m glad it’s over for my family and I’m so lucky and grateful for their support over what has been a very difficult time.
I hope the Sainsbury family can now also get on with their lives.’
