Banned driver fled from crash

A BANNED BMW driver who ran off after his dangerous overtaking manoeuvre caused a horrific crash which left three injured people trapped in their car has been jailed for three years.

Luke Elder, 27, and his passenger both fled the crash scene after the speeding BMW he had bought just a few weeks earlier smashed head-on into a Skoda Octavia on the ”Brearley bends” near Mytholmroyd in September last year.

Bradford Crown Court heard how the force of the impact ripped out the engine of the BMW and the Skoda, which contained a couple and their adult son, was pushed into a wall and written off.

Another driver estimated that the BMW was doing “6070mph plus” on the single carriageway road as it overtook him on the approach to the blind bend.

Prosecutor Chloe Hudson said after the collision Elder ran past the damaged Skoda and his passenger followed him.

Fire crews had to cut out a section of the car to free the injured occupants who had been driving to a family celebration in Mytholmroyd that evening.

Elder was not arrested and interviewed about the crash until November 2020, but the court heard that after being released he was again stopped driving a speeding Audi A5 in Hebden Bridge less than three weeks later.

Elder, of Mytholm Close, Hebden Bridge, pleaded guilty in July to a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and failing to stop or report an accident.

Judge Neil Davey QC explained that Elder would have been jailed for four years following a trial but his guilty pleas meant he was entitled to a 25 per cent reduction to three years in prison. Elder will be banned from driving for fourand-a-half years and he must take an extended driving test.

Fire crews had to cut out a section of the car to free the injured occupants