Soap Star Admits Taking Cocaine Ahead of DUI Crash that Left Nurse Seriously Injured

A British soap star has been given a driving ban after being involved in a three-car collision while under the influence of cocaine, authorities have confirmed.

On Jan. 26. 2024 at approximately 10:15 a.m. local time, Amanda Sainsbury (née Mealing), 57 — who previously starred in the U.K. soaps Casualty and Holby City — was involved in an accident on the A1175 near Hop Pole in Lincolnshire, England, Lincolnshire Police confirmed in an email to PEOPLE.

“Three vehicles were involved, a black mini, a blue Skoda and a grey Ford Transit,” police said. “A [then] 56-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of driving while impaired having provided a positive drug test at the roadside.”

Police confirmed that Sainsbury, from the village of Deeping St Nicholas, “was later charged with two offenses of driving with a proportion of a specified controlled drug over the specified limit (Benzoylecgonine and Cocaine) and an offense of driving without due care and attention.”

After the first hearing was held at Boston Magistrates Court in Lincolnshire on July 24, 2024, Sainsbury was then sentenced on Friday, March 14 of this year, having pleaded guilty to all three counts, police stated to PEOPLE. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) also confirmed the charges to PEOPLE.

The actress has been “disqualified from holding or obtaining a license for 22 months,” the police email stated, adding that she was fined £485 (around $628) with a surcharge of £194 (around $251).

After the crash, nurse Mark Le Sage — who was seriously injured in the collision — told the Daily Mail that he’s since had to give up his career, but considers himself lucky to be alive.

He said, “I was very lucky I was in such a substantial car, I very nearly took my motorbike out that day,” per the outlet.

The father of three said he was knocked unconscious in the crash and “came around to find the car was filled with smoke.”

Le Sage recalled, per the paper, “My right foot was trapped under the pedal but I thought the car was on fire and I was just desperate to get out. 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.”

“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 said, the Daily Mail reported.

Le Sage reportedly developed a tremor which left him unable to fill syringes, so he had to give up his job, per the outlet.

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According to The Independent, the court heard that mother of two Sainsbury had been undergoing divorce proceedings from her husband, Richard Sainsbury, at the time of the crash. The pair tied the knot in 1998.

The actress’s lawyer, Lloyd Edwards, also said she’d been diagnosed with blood cancer and had lost her father, her dog and her best friend within a short amount of time when the crash occurred, per the Daily Mail.

As well as starring in the U.K. soap Casualty from 2004 until 2021 under her former name Amanda Mealing, she also starred in Holby City from 2001 until 2019 and had roles in movies including 1994’s Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Le Sage and Edwards’ law firm didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for comment.