A Tory councillor's wife has been jailed after speeding at 90mph the wrong way down a dual carriageway in a botched suicide attempt.
Dawn Collins, who was more than twice the legal drink-drive limit, hurtled along the fast lane of the A1139 in Peterborough before colliding head-on with another vehicle.
The driver, Robert Hoogstraten, suffered serious injuries in the horrific smash on March 7 this year, and Mrs Collins was left with injuries including a fractured pelvis, knee and elbow.
Suicide attempt: Dawn Collins (left), the wife of Tory councillor Mark Collins, has been jailed for 18 months after drunkenly speeding at 90mph the wrong way down a dual carriageway
Mrs Collins, the wife of Conservative councillor for Peterborough's East ward Mark Collins, was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment at Peterborough Crown Court after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol in her blood.
The court heard how she stormed out of her home in Paston, Peterborough, following an argument with her husband and made the decision to 'end it all'.
Mrs Collins then drove the wrong way round a roundabout linking the A1139 with the A1 before heading on to the fast lane of the Fletton Parkway dual carriageway.
The prosecution described how two drivers were forced to swerve out of the way as Mrs Collins' silver Ford Escort ‘flashed’ straight towards them at 80 to 90mph.
But as motorist Mr Hoogstraten pulled out into the fast lane to overtake a lorry Mrs Collins ploughed into his silver Mazda 6, causing massive damage to both cars.
He was trapped in his car for 90 minutes before being cut out by firefighters and was taken to hospital with a broken hand and severe bruising.
Mr Hoogstraten has also started receiving treatment for heart problems brought about by the impact.
When Mrs Collins was interviewed by police the following month, she claimed she had been travelling in the right direction.
Nicola Devas, mitigating, said Mrs Collins had intended to drive into crash barriers rather than another motorist.
She said: 'She had made a fairly impulsive decision to commit suicide.
'She had no idea that she was on the wrong side of the road.'
Mrs Devas said Mrs Collins had been suffering from 'moderate depression' and was so full of remorse she had vowed never to drink or get behind the wheel of a car again.
Sentencing, Judge Sean Enright said he had reduced the jail sentence from the two-year maximum because of Collins' remorse and guilty plea.
He warned the sentence could have been higher if drink driving legislation allowed for greater penalties.
He said: 'It does not seem to me that the penalty for dangerous driving of only two years is sufficiently great, but there it is.'
Mrs Collins was also banned from driving for seven years.
