A disqualified driver who fled from police and crashed into a line of traffic, leaving two people with life-changing injuries, has today been jailed.
Billy Morrison reached speeds of 111mph as he was pursued by police before hitting a row of vehicles on the A61 at Skipton on Swale.
A passenger in one of the vehicles – a woman in her 80s – suffered 11 different bone fractures due to the impact.
She was taken to hospital with cracked ribs, vertebrae and ankle bones and is still recovering from her injuries.
The passenger in the Mitsubishi Shogun 4×4 Morrison was driving was also seriously hurt after it overturned. He has had to stop work as a result of his injuries.
Twenty-year-old Morrison from Barnsley was arrested immediately after the incident, which happened in September this year.
He had been banned from driving just three weeks beforehand, but had continued to drive illegally.
Following an investigation by North Yorkshire Police’s Major Collision Investigation Team, Morrison was charged with:
- Two counts of causing injury by dangerous driving
- One count of dangerous driving
- Driving while disqualified
- Driving without insurance
- Driving while unfit through drink or drugs
- Failing to provide a specimen
During police interviews, Morrison initially lied about who was driving the vehicle.
However, he later accepted responsibility and pleaded guilty to the offences.
He was remanded in custody and appeared before a judge at York Crown Court today to be sentenced.
The judge said Morrison showed “complete disregard” for other road users during “a horrific series of manoeuvres”.
He added that he had no option but to impose the maximum sentence available for the type of offences, and jailed Morrison for three years and nine months.
He was also banned from driving for a further eight years, ten months and will have to take an extended retest to get his licence back.
After the sentencing, Detective Sergeant Kirsten Aldridge, who led the police investigation, said: “Morrison showed no regard whatsoever for the lives of other road users, and left two people with horrendous injuries that have changed their lives.
“This incident has no doubt also had a lasting impact on those who he narrowly missed whilst trying to evade police.
“To then lie to us about who was driving and try to blame his actions on someone else was nothing short of cowardly and deceitful.
“Driving while banned may seem like a minor offence to some people. But this case illustrates the contempt for the law and the risk to the public that disqualified drivers can pose, which is why we work so hard to get them off our roads.”
The incident was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) which is standard practice for collisions that follow a police pursuit. The IOPC investigation remains ongoing.
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