Lucas Akins is currently sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to causing the death of a cyclist by inadvertent or inconsistent driving, but he was able to quickly return to the Mansfield side.
Lucas Akins was able to leave prison and return to the Mansfield Town team later this season and be appointed to the club’s team list before returning to the Mansfield Town team.
Akins was jailed in April for causing the death of a cyclist by careless or caring driving. He attacked Adrian Daniel at Mercedes in March 2022 at Huddersfield, and the 33-year-old died 10 days later.
The 36-year-old striker pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 14 months at Leeds Crown Court, but was sentenced to prison before being released on his license. That means he was able to return to the Mansfield pitch before Christmas.
Akins appears to have a future with the club after pleading guilty on March 4th, continuing to play at Mansfield last season. His contract with Stag expired at the end of last season, but he is on the team list for the 2025/26 campaign.
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The team list on the Soccer League website shows players on the contract, registered and eligible players this season. That means Akins can play for Mansfield when he is released with a license from prison after serving a seven-month sentence.
“The club will consider Lucas’s position when he is released from custody and will not make any further comments at this time,” Mansfield told BBC Sports in a statement. At the time of his sentence, manager Nigel Claff said his prison term came as “an incredible shock.”
Akins was a Mansfield player when the fatal crash occurred three and a half years ago, but continued to play for them during the trial. Daniel’s family, who suffered a catastrophic brain damage from the collision, criticized him for not pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity.
His wife, Savannah Daniel, said in her impact statement: “His wife and children don’t have to live the life we have since that day. 11 years ago Adrian survived a terrible accident. I was not a spiritual person, but I think he found us and survived to show us what Dad is and what true love is.
“I can say I have learned to live life without him and live it perfectly, but that doesn’t excuse Mr. Akins’ actions. Three years of hell, evasion and my trauma have finally come close today.”
Akins has scored 28 goals in 154 games for Mansfield and joined in 2022 after spending eight years with Burton Albion. He made 39 appearances last season, contributing four goals and four assists, and his final match was defeated in a 5-1 loss by Reading on April 21, just three days before he was sentenced.
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