Coward fled scene of horror car smash
A DANGEROUS driver flouted the speed limit and ploughed his car into the rear of a van in a busy town centre.
Daniel Topp was travelling at such excessive speed when he crashed into the vehicle that his Skoda Fabia flipped into the air and landed on the pavement.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the 34-year-old’s car was only stopped from hitting two pedestrians by a tree.
But Topp’s two passengers were injured and both needed hospital treatment, prosecutors said.
However, the coward fled the scene on foot, leaving those injured behind and making his way home to Tennant Street, in Hebburn.
Officers were able to trace the vehicle back to Topp because it was insured in his name.
Now he has been jailed for 18 months after he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, leaving the scene of an accident and failing to report an accident.
Having watched the shocking CCTV footage, Mr Recorder Singh said the accident could have been “absolutely catastrophic” because of the speed Topp was travelling.
Locking him up, the judge added: “The driving is set out on CCTV and nothing I can say can add to that – it’s frankly horrendous and the speed is very alarming for all to see.
“The fact you didn’t see that van in front of you says more than I could in describing how dangerous that driving was.”
The court was told Topp had been to a friend’s house on September 2 last year and had agreed to take two people he didn’t know to a nearby Morrisons store in South Shields town centre.
Michael Bunch, prosecuting, said the female passenger immediately “became nervous” because of the speed Topp was driving at along Ocean Road, which is a 30mph zone.
“Other persons on Ocean Road became aware of the defendant travelling at a grossly excessive speed,” Mr Bunch said. “And, as he travelled in towards the town centre, he was confronted in his lane by a VW Transporter vehicle, which was stationary behind a parked car waiting to cross the road to continue its journey. “The defendant’s vehicle failed to have any awareness of the van in front and hit it at full speed. That was a speed, from CCTV, that was greatly in excess of the 30mph limit for that road. “The affect of the collision was to cause the rear of the defendant’s car to raise into the air as it moved sideways towards the pavement.” The prosecutor said had it not been for Topp’s car hitting a tree, two pedestrians would have been struck. Yet, despite his two passengers lying dazed and injured in his Skoda, Topp got out and fled the scene. The court was told the female passenger
The driving is set out on CCTV... it’s frankly horrendous and the speed is very alarming for all to see Mr Recorder Singh
suffered a broken wrist and toe and bruising to her ribs, while the male passenger suffered “serious injuries”.
Alec Burns, mitigating, said Topp accepted he had been driving too fast but claimed he had lost concentration on the road because he was tuning the radio.
“He’s ashamed and he shows true remorse,” the barrister added. “He’s actually a decent young man. He works and he’s got a house and a mortgage.”
Topp was also banned from driving for 45 months and must take an extended re-test before he can get his licence back.