A driver spotted air drumming in his van moments before seriously injuring a motorcyclist on the Dartford Crossing has been banned from driving for three months.

According to a witness Jon Brydon, 45, had both hands off the steering wheel and appeared to be "furiously playing drums" as he approached the QEII Bridge at around 4.55pm on July 8.

Once on the bridge a short time later Brydon’s Volkswagen Caddy van moved from lane two to three before swerving across into lane four.

The vehicle then hit a motorcycle driven by Christopher Williams who was thrown into the barrier at the side of the bridge.

He was airlifted to hospital suffering from a separated left shoulder, sprained ribs, tendon damage to his ankle and bruising to his pelvis, groin and thigh.

Mr Williams’ injuries mean he can no longer ride a motorbike and, as of November, was still taking painkillers for his shoulder and thigh.

Having pleaded not guilty at a previous hearing on December 9, Brydon, of Clerks Croft in Redhill, Surrey, changed his plea to guilty on Friday at what would have been the start of a two day trial for driving without due care and attention.

Defending him at Southend Magistrates’ Court, Coral Fitzgerald said: "Mr Brydon doesn’t accept he was air drumming or that his attention was taken away from his driving.

"I would like to say I completely understand why Mr Brydon has struggled to accept responsibility.

"You do not have to do much wrong to be guilty of this offence.

"The traffic across the bridge was going incredibly slowly that day.

"The reason Mr Brydon has entered his guilty plea is he accepts there is a weight of evidence against him."

Brydon, who owns the H20 Aquatics shop in Brentwood, Essex, escaped a driving ban at a hearing on April 5, 2012, despite racking up 12 points on his licence for two offences of failing to identify the driver.

His plea of exceptional hardship was accepted because of the difficulties of running his business without being able to drive.

But this time head magistrate Anne Wade handed Brydon a three month ban for his "poor standard of driving" and ordered him to pay a £500 fine, £300 costs and a £50 victim surcharge.

Speaking to News Shopper afterwards, Brydon branded the air drumming claim "bulls***" and claimed he wasn’t even listening to music at the time of the incident.

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