A man will be ordered to attend court after a ladder he was carrying on his van flew off and went through the windscreen of another van.

Sean James Weir, of Campion Way, Douglas, sent a postal admission to an offence of carrying a dangerous load on a vehicle but magistrates ruled that, as disqualification was a possibility, the 48-year-old must attend court.

Prosecuting advocate Hazel Carroon told the court that police were called to Shore Road in Port St Mary on February 23 after a report of a vehicle struck by a ladder.

When officers arrived they found the ladder embedded in a Ford Transit van’s windscreen.

The driver had blood on his face and said he felt as if he had glass in his eyes.

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Witnesses said that the Ford Transit had been driving in the opposite direction to Weir’s Renault Trafic van when the ladder came off.

The driver said that the ladder came at him ’like a missile’ and that he thought he was going to die.

After being taken to hospital he was diagnosed with scratches to his eyeball and cuts to his hands and face.

He said that since the incident he had suffered back pain, anxiety about driving, and difficulty sleeping.

Weir denied that the ladder was insecure and said that the accident had been due to very strong winds.

Magistrates chair Carol Maddrell described the case as a serious incident and adjourned it for Weir to attend court on July 20.