A DANGEROUS driver who seriously injured a pedestrian in Rugby has been jailed.
Ashley Stevens, 30, of Parkfield Road was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court to 27 months in prison and disqualified from driving for 49 months until an extended test of competence has been passed, having pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Stevens was driving a Kia Picanto north along Newbold Road at around 6.40am on Saturday June 24 last year.
Stevens hit ‘keep left’ bollards on the wrong side, causing the car to roll onto its side and skid towards a pedestrian.
Despite the pedestrian’s attempts to jump out of the way, the car hit him, pinning him up against a wall.
A witness came to the pedestrian’s aid and saw him on the floor groaning with an injury to his head.
The pedestrian suffered a broken pelvis and cuts and bruises, and was taken to University Hospital Coventry for treatment.
Following the collision, Stevens refused to provide a breath test for police. He was also sentenced to one month to run concurrently for failing to provide a specimen for analysis. He was also ordered to pay a £228 victim surcharge.
Sgt Scott Good said: “I cannot overstate how dangerous Stevens’ driving was to other road users who were sharing the road with him on that day.
“Newbold Road is a very busy road where there are almost always other road users whatever time of day or night it is.
“It is totally unacceptable that Stevens’ dangerous driving behaviour resulted in an innocent pedestrian being seriously injured. We can only hope that some time in prison and a lengthy driving ban will help him realise that driving is a privilege not a right.
“The vast majority of road users are good drivers who drive according to the conditions within the law, and before he can drive again he will need to pass an extended test of driving competence to prove he understands this.”
