Driver who caused serious crash in Derby while online gambling is jailed
Jack Bentley’s Ford Focus was seen veering into the grass verge last April.
A driver who was online gambling when he crashed into the back of a stationary car on the A50 causing a pregnant woman to go into early labour has been jailed.
Jack Bentley’s Ford Focus was seen veering into the grass verge of the eastbound carriageway between junctions 6 and 5, as well as swerving between lanes and lane hogging at around 6.45pm on 6 April.
He then crashed into the back of a Nissan X Trail which was at the back of a line of stationary traffic. The impact then forced the Nissan into the back of another car.
The driver of the Nissan suffered whiplash but the passenger was a pregnant woman who suffered a fractured pelvis and was rushed to hospital where she had to undergo an emergency c-section, giving birth prematurely and leaving her baby in intensive care.
Two other children were also in the Nissan and suffered injuries while the family’s pet dog was seriously injured and had to undergo emergency surgery.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said: “I needed an emergency caesarean due to my baby being in distress. I found this very traumatic and didn’t want my baby to be born like that and that early.
“My baby was born without skin to skin contact and me and my partner had to wait to see her. When you have a baby you expect to be in a bubble with your partner and newborn baby but we were separated across three wards in the hospital and missed out on so much in those early moments.
“No mother or father should have to go through this.
“The next three weeks we spent in hospital getting our baby strong enough to come home. I was having to visit my baby on a hospital bed to watch her in her incubator. I remember being there watching when all the nurses and doctors rushed around because her lung had collapsed and I had to lay there scared for her. Hours later the other lung also collapsed. She wasn’t strong enough for the world yet. For my first pregnancy this was a very traumatic experience and one no parent expects or wants to experience.”
Bentley was arrested at the scene. Analysis of his phone data following the crash showed he had been using his phone while driving, visiting online gambling sites as he travelled from Blackpool to Derby.
The 30-year-old, of Meadow Way, Derby, was subsequently charged with two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
He admitted the charges and appeared at Derby Crown Court for sentence on 11 February where he was jailed for two years and four months. He has also been disqualified from driving for three years and two months.
PC Richard Morris, who led the investigation, said: “This was an appalling display of driving by Bentley, who spent the majority of his journey distracted by being on his phone.
“From watching the dashcam footage, it was clear that had he been paying attention he would have seen the queue of traffic in front of him and been able to stop in time. Instead he was more focused on his phone and subsequently ploughed into the Nissan, causing extensive injuries to the occupants and their family dog. The fact his actions caused a woman to give birth prematurely and left a tiny baby spending the first few weeks of their life in intensive care is nothing short of despicable.
“I know that the physical, mental and emotional trauma from this incident continues to impact on this family, who were simply going out their day when this wholly avoidable collision occurred.
“My thoughts remain with them as they continue their recovery and I hope that knowing that Bentley is behind bars provides them with some form of comfort as they look ahead to the future.”