Clarke Carlisle pays tribute to Cygnet Hospital Harrogate after crash

The former York City player jumped into the path of a 12-ton truck on the A64 near York on December 22, two days before he was arrested after almost hitting a lorry in north London.

Carlisle was airlifted to Leeds General Infirmary with serious injuries following the crash before receiving specialist mental health support at Cygnet Hospital Harrogate.

Speaking outside court, the 35-year-old paid tribute to both the staff at Leeds and at Harrogate after he was banned from driving for three years after admitting drinking and driving today.

He said: “I have to thank my legal team here and the PFA for their unwavouring support throughout all this. Most of all I want to thank my family.

“Their love and compassion for me has taught me a true lesson and finally I want to thank God that I’m alive today. God spared me that day.

“The fantastic team at Leeds General Infirmary resucitated me and saved my life and the staff at Cygnet Hospital in Harrogate have given me the foundations to move forward.”

Carlisle was also ordered to do 150 hours unpaid community work within the next 12 months and ordered to pay a £60 surcharge and £85 prosecution cost.

The former Professional Footballers’ Association chairman, who played for Burnley, Queens Park Rangers, and Northampton Town, admitted failing to provide a sample.

Carlisle pleaded guilty to a charge of driving otherwise in accordance with a licence on the same date, when police officers spotted him driving a Mercedes in an ‘erratic’ nature, the court heard.

District judge Susan Williams told Carlisle that, although he had made a “positive contribution” in the world of others in football, that she had to sentence him for the risk he had created in driving “erratically”.

She told Carlisle that “if you are not in control of your vehicle in a road in central London you represent a danger to people”.

Carlisle has also previously pleaded guilty to a charge of driving otherwise in accordance with a licence on the same date, when police officers spotted him driving a Mercedes in an ‘’erratic’’ nature, the court heard.

Carlisle, smartly-dressed in a dark grey suit, said “thank you ma’am” as the district judge sentenced him and urged him to find help at a clinic for his mental health problems.