A Porsche driver has been jailed for a crash in Rudgwick which left a woman with life-changing injuries. Police said 40-year-old property developer, Martin Skinner of Kinnerton Street in London, tested positive for cocaine following the crash on the A281 Guildford Road on the evening of August 24 2018. His red sports car lost control and hit a tree with such an impact that the entire engine was ejected from the vehicle. The front seat passenger - a 30-year-old woman from London - sustained brain injuries and remained in an induced coma for more than a week. Skinner suffered serious injuries and was admitted to Guildford Hospital, where he refused to provide a further sample. He was subsequently charged with careless driving and failing to provide a specimen for analysis. Appearing at Worthing Magistrates' Court, Skinner entered a plea of not guilty to both offences, claiming that the crash was caused by a defective road surface, and that he failed to provide a specimen because he was not fit enough to give his consent at that time. The case was adjourned for a trial on 21 August 2019. On the day of the trial, Skinner arrived at court some two hours late in his McLaren sports car and claimed that his alarm clock had not woken him up in time, according to officers. Giving evidence, his passenger said Skinner had been driving so fast that everything had been a blur, and he had ignored her pleas to slow down - negotiating a bend so fast that he had ended up losing control and crashing. Skinner arrived at court some two hours late in his McLaren sports car and claimed that his alarm clock had not woken him up in time, according to officers. He was charged with a separate offence of failing to surrender to bail. Following legal advice, Skinner changed his plea to guilty in relation to all charges. The judge declined to give Skinner, whom she described as 'arrogant', any credit for his guilty plea, and sentenced him to 22 months' imprisonment. Skinner was also disqualified from driving until May 2022, and ordered to pay fines and costs amounting to £1,815. Investigating officer Tony Crisp said: "While Skinner did not set out to cause an accident that day, he had clearly set out to drive around the countryside in a high powered car, at high speed, and under the influence of cocaine, resulting in a crash that caused the victim in this case to sustain a life-changing injury. "He sought to prevent the police from taking a blood sample to establish how much cocaine he had in his system and until the very last moment refused to accept responsibility for his actions.”
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