A delivery van driver who caused serious injuries when he turned into the path of an oncoming motorbike tried to tell police it had been the biker's fault.

Peter Wrall, of Grenville Terrace in Ashton under Lyne, appeared at Mold Crown Court on Friday morning for sentence.

The 60-year-old had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Myles Wilson, prosecuting, told the court that on July 25 last year, Wrall was driving his delivery van in Kinnerton Lane, just outside Higher Kinnerton.

It was a bright, sunny day and the road conditions were good.

Wrall turned right into a side road - across the path of an oncoming motorbike, which collided with the side of the van.

Mr Wilson said the bike wasn't speeding and had its headlight on, meaning Wrall should have seen it.

But CCTV footage from within the van showed he was in fact looking right as he turned, not at the oncoming lane.

The rider, Daniel Lewis, and his pillion passenger Harry Dahl sustained numerous injuries.

Among various other injuries, Mr Lewis fractured both wrists.

Mr Dahl broke his nose and sustained a "nasty" crush injury to one of his testicles which resulted in blood clots.

Both victims suffered ongoing pain in the months which followed, as well as a severe impact on their mental health.

In his victim impact statement, Mr Lewis said the injuries had affected his grip strength and that he required physiotherapy.

He explained he had to stop work and relied on his family for support in carrying basic day-to-day activities while his wrists recovered.

"Every time I close my eyes," he said, "I see the last moment before the collision - the white van."

"My future has been irreversibly impacted.

"I feel I've had my previous life stolen from me."

He added he felt "heartbroken" about his bike, which he saved up for and was left "in pieces."

In his statement, Mr Dahl said he required surgery on his nose to improve his airways and straighten his nose.

He said he worried about the impact of his testicular injury on his ability to start a family.

Mr Wilson explained that Wrall was interviewed by police a few months after the collision and "in essence, he tried to blame the motorbike for the collision."

He claimed a Range Rover in the oncoming lane had flashed him to let him turn into the side road but the bike had undertaken the Range Rover "at high speed" and collided with him.

The court heard despite having pleaded guilty to the offence, he still maintained his account of the incident.

Mr Wilson concluded: "This was a highly dangerous manoeuvre."

Richard Flook, defending, told the court: "Nothing I say goes to diminish the terrible consequences of what was a tragic accident.

"The defendant was driving at a speed less than 30mph and when the collision happened it was less than 20.

"As it happens, he is looking right - but that's where I'd expect a driver to be looking.

"He has simply missed the motorcycle.

"Between the bike first becoming visible an the collision, it's three or four seconds.

"If he missed that bike on the check and turned into the junction, that's the accident.

"Since the accident, the defendant has suffered significantly with his own mental health - the accident is something that he keeps thinking about.

"He has lost his employment and he is struggling with it."

Mr Flook added his client, an ex-motorcyclist himself,  had "contributed to society throughout his life" and "goes out of his way to help others."

Judge Timothy Petts told the defendant his account of the events had been a "despicable lie" and that wrongly blaming others could be taken as an aggravating feature in his case.

He said: "When asked by the author of the pre-sentence report about the impact of the collision, your first thought was for yourself and that you hadn't suffered any injuries.

"The rider fractured both wrists - that's a seriously debilitating injury he's still having ongoing treatment for.

"And the passenger suffered a broken nose and a nasty injury to one of his testicles which still causes his ongoing pain and requires further treatment."

Judge Petts jailed the defendant for a total of three years and banned him from driving for four-and-a-half years.