American driver who crashed 'head-on' into a nurse is jailed

An American driver who fled the UK after crashing 'head-on' into a nurse – leaving her unable to walk - was jailed today for 32 months.

Dashcam footage showed Isac Calderon crashing into a Mercedes being driven by nurse Elizabeth Donowho, after he lost control of his Honda Accord after a high-speed overtaking manoeuvre. 

Texas-born Calderon, who was 22 at the time of the incident and is now 23, pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to causing serious injury by driving dangerously on July 31 last year near Shucknall in Herefordshire.

When news emerged that he had left the country last year, Calderon, then 22, was described as being a US soldier 'associated with the secret services'.

Ms Donowho claimed West Mercia Police had told her Calderon was working on matters 'that might come under the Official Secrets Act'.

His father said Calderon was part of the American National Guard and said he served 'a few weeks a year'. He was later described by the US embassy as a 'private citizen'.

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Judge Martin Jackson was told Calderon worked for an American company in Peterborough as an interpreter, and told police after his arrest that he 'played follow the leader' while tailing an Audi.

Calderon's lawyer told the court that he was not in the UK 'as an American Army official of any sort' and was driving along the A4103 between Worcester and Hereford to meet a friend he had struck up a friendship with through online gaming.

Sentencing Calderon, who appeared in court via a video-link to HMP Hewell, Judge Jackson told him: 'Seven days before this accident you had bought a car and had not taken the trouble to make sure that it carried insurance.

'It was the sort of driving one expects from arrogant young boy racers. This was an appalling piece of driving.'

Worcester Crown Court heard Calderon had been driving at 70mph on a 50mph stretch of the A4103 when he collided with Ms Donowho on a bend. One witness feared he was 'going to kill himself or someone else', prosecutor Simon Phillips told the court.

Calderon fled to the US at the end of last year. He was tracked down to his family home in Texas, the state where he was arrested in July – almost a year after he left Elizabeth Donowho seriously injured.

A US court document seen by the Mail revealed Calderon told police he had no plans to leave the UK before March this year, only to leave last November, the extradition ruling stated.

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The paperwork also revealed that Calderon argued that he only missed a court date in the UK last December because he had no funds to stay in the country. 

'He argues that his only choice was to return to the United States or else be homeless in the UK', it said.

But a judge ruled in August he must be extradited back to Britain.

The case has echoes of the prosecution of Ex-CIA operative Anne Sacoolas, who fled the UK under diplomatic immunity in 2019 after pulling out of a US military base in Northamptonshire on to the wrong side of the road, where she then fatally collided with motorcyclist Harry Dunn, 19.

Judge Jackson handed Calderon a two-year driving ban to be served after his release, and told him: 'You had held a driving licence for no more than a year.

'You were therefore on any view an inexperienced driver. You had not actually taken the trouble to familiarise yourself with solid white lines and what they mean, what they are there for.

'Although you say you were doing 'follow the leader' the responsibility for this accident rests solely with you.

'It was your hands on the steering wheel. It was your foot on the accelerator and it was your mind deciding to make those dangerous manoeuvres.

'It is troubling that instead of attending at that first (magistrates' court) date you chose to return to America rather than face the music.

'Other people were clearly aware of the road conditions and driving safely. You chose to do the opposite.'

The victim of the crash, a freelance nurse who was on her way home from working at a hospital in unit in Hereford, suffered multiple fractures in the collision, including to both ankles, her sternum and her right hand.

The court heard Calderon suffered a broken arm and concussion, while Ms Donowho, aged 56, has yet to return to work due to the far-reaching consequences of the crash, which happened on a wet road surface.

The crash, which happened as Calderon followed an Audi which was ahead of him, was recorded on front and rear cameras mounted to a van.