Women badly injured in crash - man in court
A MAN admitted causing serious injuries to two women after a car collided with a house wall following a police chase.
Police in Rossendale said they spotted the silver Mercedes CLK on Whitworth Road shortly after 7pm on Saturday, July 1, and officers signalled for it to stop.
However officers said the car ‘made off at high speed’ in the direction of New Line.
After a 10-minute police chase the Mercedes collided with a wall on Plantation Street near to the junction with Booth Road.
Firefighters were called to the scene at 7.15pm and said that it took one hour to cut the two women free from the Mercedes.
The front seat passenger, a 26-year-old woman, suffered serious leg and neck injuries and was taken by ambulance to Royal Preston Hospital, where she remains in a critical condition.
A second female passenger, aged 34, suffered back injuries, a broken toe and broken ribs. She was taken to Royal Salford Infirmary.
Nathan Lee Elsworth, 22, of Branch Street, Stacksteads, appeared at Blackburn Magistrates Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving to Jemma Tatton and Gemma Dyson.
He also pleaded guilty to one count each of dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking, failing to stop after a road accident, failing to report a road accident to police, driving while disqualified and using a car without insurance.
He has been remanded into custody to appear at Burnley Crown Court for sentence on August 4.
Magistrates have also handed Elsworth an interim driving disqualifi- cation. The incident has now been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission and an independent investigation will be carried out.
A Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “Two fire engines from Bacup and one from Rawtenstall were called to a road traffic collision involving one vehicle.
“When firefighters arrived at the scene, they found two people trapped in the vehicle and they used cutting equipment to release them. The two casualties were then treated by paramedics.”