Driver jailed after leaving passenger with broken neck after horror crash

Aaran Brown, 28, of Eldrida Drive, Warboys, near Huntingdon, was driving southbound on the A10 Cambridge Road, Stretham, on 19 August last year.

He had two passengers in his car but became irate due to an earlier phone call and began waving his fists around, shouting and punching the inside of the car. The group had travelled to Ely but were returning to Cambridge.

At about 8.15pm, Brown’s rage caused him to lose control and crash his car onto the grass verge and into a lamppost.

Brown was trapped with a broken leg while his front seat passenger, a woman in her 20s, was pulled from the car by the man sitting in the back together with help from members of the public. She received life-changing injuries, which left her unable to work. She also struggles to walk long distances and suffers severe neurotic pain.

Due to Brown’s injuries, a roadside breath test wasn’t taken but a blood test was carried out at hospital about four hours later. It revealed there was cannabis in Brown’s system but it was under the legal limit.

While in hospital Brown confirmed he was the driver of the car, a Nissan Almera, and told officers he and his front seat passenger had an argument in the car just before the crash.

Checks revealed Brown was driving on an expired provisional licence and with no insurance at the time of the collision. The car itself had been lent to Brown by a friend who asked him to repair it while he was on holiday.

Brown failed to attend his police interview, but was later served a postal requisition charging him with driving without due care and attention, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, driving without a licence and driving whilst uninsured.

Brown pleaded guilty to the charges on 9 October at Cambridge Crown Court. He was sentenced at the same court yesterday (17 November), where he was handed 18 months in prison.

He was also disqualified from driving for three years and nine months.

PC David Black, who investigated, said: “Brown was driving recklessly and without due care, letting anger get the better of him.

“He lost control of the vehicle and, as a result, the woman’s life will never be the same again. As well as this, he was driving with blatant disregard for the rules of the road – having no licence or insurance.

“I hope this sentence highlights our commitment to keeping our roads safe by bringing dangerous motorists to justice."