Casualty star admits taking cocaine before crashing car into nurse

Star was banned from driving for 22 months

Casualty star Amanda Mealing has admitted to driving while under the influence of cocaine, seriously injuring a nurse in the process.

The 57-year-old pleaded guilty to being over the drug-driving limit and driving without due care and attention. She was banned from driving for 22 months.

Mealing was involved in a three-car collision on the A1175 near Hop Pole, Lincolnshire, on 26 January last year. The actor tested positive for cocaine and benzoylecgonine in a roadside test according to Lincolnshire Police.

She was fined £485 and charged £400 in court costs as well as a £194 surcharge. Mealing appeared at Bolton Magistrates Court under her married name Amanda Sainsbury.

Mealing played surgeon Connie Beauchamp on the longstanding BBC medical series Holby City and Casualty, appearing from 2004 to 2021. Towards the end of her character’s storyline, Beauchamp deals with drug addiction. The actor left the show in 2021, confirming that she would return after an “extended break”.

The nurse who was hit in the collision said he considered himself lucky to be alive.

“I was very lucky I was in such a substantial car, I very nearly took my motorbike out that day,” father-of-three Mark Le Sage told the Daily Mail. He reported being knocked unconscious before coming around to find his car filled with smoke.

Mealing admitted to driving under the influence of cocaine (Getty Images)

“My right foot was trapped under the pedal but I thought the car was on fire and I was just desperate to get out,”he said. “I think the adrenalin kicked in and I was able to free myself. The driver's side of the car was bashed but I got out myself out of the passenger side and fell into the road.”

He added: “I now know that the smoke was caused by the airbags going off but I didn't know that at the time. I'm very lucky. The fire brigade told me afterwards that If I was in a smaller vehicle it might've been a different story.”

He says he has been forced to give up his job as a result.

Actor played Connie Beauchamp on the popular BBC medical drama (BBC/Holby City/Casualty)

The court heard that Mealing is undergoing divorce proceedings from her husband, Richard Sainsbury, who she has been married to since 1998. It also heard that the period has been generally difficult for the mother-of-two who has been battling a number of problems. Le Sage agreed that he did not think she deserved to go to prison.

Mealing was initially sentenced to 28 months, reduced to 22 months after her 6 month interim ban was taken into account.