Man crashed into teen, car and telegraph pole in Chester-le-Street

Benjamin Carr drove off, leaving behind the 14-year-old boy who was left lying under a bush with a broken collar bone, and the trail of debris.

Durham Crown Court heard 32-year-old Carr had only been released from prison a week earlier and was thought to be undergoing something of a drug-induced psychotic episode at the time due to the amount of crack cocaine he had smoked.

The court was told the VW Golf used in the incident belonged to a friend of his partner, who had only bought it a week earlier.

Caroline McGurk, prosecuting, said the car owner was visiting the defendant's partner, in Waldridge Close, Chester-le-Street, at about 3.45pm on August 15 last year.

Carr, who was described as “heavily intoxicated” at the time, ordered both women out of the house and into the car, which, in the state he was in, he thought belonged to his mother.

He ordered his girlfriend’s friend to drive it, but then clambered into the driving seat himself, sitting on her lap, and tried to push her out of the moving vehicle into oncoming traffic.

She managed to cling onto the steering wheel, despite Carr pressing down on the accelerator pedal, and drove back to her friend’s home.

Miss McGurk said Carr then dragged her out of the vehicle, smashed the driver’s side window, and drove off in it, with the door still open.

The victim said she had never seen a car accelerate away so quickly.

Carr drove onto Waldridge Road and crashed into a parked Nissan Juke, shunting it two car lengths across a pavement and into a hedge.

He carried on, hitting a wooden telegraph pole, smashing it and dragging it along the road, before he then hit the 14-year-old boy, who was walking to his grandmother’s home with his brother.

Miss McGurk said the boy, who suffered a broken collarbone and other injuries, was left lying under a bush, as Carr drove away without offering any assistance.

Having been later arrested, he denied pulling the owner from the Golf, claiming she got out of her own volition.

Benjamin Carr received a four-year prison sentence and a five-year driving ban (Image: Durham Constabulary)

But in September, Carr, of no fixed abode, admitted aggravated vehicle taking, robbery, driving without insurance and failing to stop after an accident.

The court heard the boy said his injuries had a major impact on him and despite wearing a sling each day, he found it very uncomfortable and had trouble sleeping.

In her statement, the car owner said she had saved to buy it, having had the Golf only a week.

The car was written off and she said the whole incident had a “devastating impact” on her mental health.

She also found it difficult being in public as people would ask her if she had hit the boy, as it was her car.

The court heard Carr has 12 convictions for 22 offences, nine of them for violence, and has served several previous prison sentences.

Tony Davis, in mitigation, told the court: “It’s been clear, throughout, that he was undergoing an episode bordering on psychotic.

“That is, maybe, the most neutral way to deal with it, brought about by drug use, which, in itself, is an aggravating feature.”

Mr Davis said that while remanded at HMP Durham he has been able to take substantial steps to address his drug use.

“He was released only a week before these events, but his return to custody has given him the focus to rid himself of this cycle of addiction.”

Judge Nathan Adams told Carr that while heavily under the influence of crack cocaine, he put the car owner’s life at risk by trying to push her out of it while moving, and then hitting the young pedestrian and leaving him badly injured by driving away from the scene.

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Imposing a total four-year prison sentence, Judge Adams told Carr: “It’s luck, and nothing else, that you didn’t cause more serious harm.”

He also banned the defendant from driving for five years.

Carr must then pass an extended re-test when the ban expires, if he ever wants to drive lawfully again.