After ingesting laughing gas, a PRO football player caused a terrible vehicle accident and received a year in prison.

In April of last year, Flynn Clarke’s BMW drifted onto the opposing carriageway and collided with a campervan.

The 20-year-old Norwich City midfielder reportedly lost control after exiting a roundabout and clipping a kerb.

The driver of the RV had serious injuries, and a male passenger in the BMW expressed concern that he might never be able to walk again.

Clarke, who has previously represented Scotland’s under-21 team, admitted three counts of seriously injuring someone while driving recklessly.

He also admitted using nitrous oxide, also referred to as laughing gas, in court, according to Peterborough Crown Court testimony.

There were “unclear and conflicting accounts” as to whether it had been taken at the time or just before the incident, though.

Judge Sean Enright sentenced Clarke to a year in prison and imposed a 30-month driving ban, stating that his acts had caused “immense harm.”

Prior to the collision on the A47 near Thorney, Cambs, witnesses, according to the prosecution, had described the young professional player as driving in a “indecisive manner” and having trouble staying in his lane.

According to testimony given in court, he was driving while his fiancée was in the front passenger seat and three male companions were in the back.

Then Clarke’s BMW lurched into the other lane and collided directly into a camper.

The motorhome’s HGV driver owner said that since the collision, which left him with damaged bones in his ankle, knee, hip, and pelvis, he has been unable to work.

Since then, he has been forced to have numerous surgeries, including a hip replacement.

He further stated in a victim impact statement read in court that his injuries had prevented him from doing activities he had previously taken for granted, such as playing football with his grandson.

“I have experienced pain and discomfort for the past 16 months,” the victim admitted.

“This incident sends a shiver up my back when I think of it, and how the consequences

should have been very different.”

During Clarke’s BMW accident, a 21-year-old passenger testified in court that he had feared he could never walk again after being taken to the hospital with internal bleeding and breaking his collar bone, chest, and vertebrae.

Although Clarke did not intend to cause the incident, the young man continued that he “has to live with the consequences” and that he may experience agony for the rest of his life.

The incident was the result of a “momentary lapse in concentration,” according to Clarke’s defense attorney Tommy Dominguez KC, who also noted that Clarke had displayed “significant remorse.”

He claimed, “He has not looked to present any justifications. “He has accepted full accountability for his deeds.”

Additionally, the footballer’s work with Norwich City would undoubtedly end if he were given a prison sentence, the court was informed.

Clarke was also given a 30-month driving restriction by Judge Enright.

After making only a few senior games for Peterborough United, Clarke, a Peterborough, Cambridgeshire native, was signed by Norwich in 2021.

He was joined on loan earlier this month by National League team Dagenham & Redbridge after a brief stint with League Two club Walsall last year.

In a 1-1 tie with Northern Ireland in September of last year, he scored on his debut for Scotland’s U21 team.

Norwich City announced that it would “consider the matter internally in accordance with its own disciplinary procedure”.

It is currently not illegal to possess or use nitrous oxide. However, earlier this week MPs voted in favor of making it a Class C drug.