Joyriders avoid charges for knocking down pensioner

A GROUP of joyriders will be not punished for seriously injuring a pensioner after refusing to say who was driving.

Colin Gorman, Gary Shackleton and Louis Jardine, all from Newcastle, were in the stolen vehicle, which left 72year-old Alexander McDonald seriously injured on a zebra crossing.

However, prosecutors were unable to prove who was behind the wheel when it hit the pensioner in North Shields – meaning no one will be charged in connection with his injuries.

A court heard the three men, along with front-seat passenger Jade Stewart, brought chaos to the roads before and after the collision, which left Mr McDonald with broken bones and lifechanging injuries.

Sentencing them for aggravated vehicle taking, Recorder William Lowe said: “It is the case that the driver of the vehicle at that point was one of the defendants. It’s not possible to prove to the required standard who was the driver. Had it been so, the CPS would have brought a charge of GBH, which has a maximum sentence of five years. This offence has a maximum of two years and I have to give a discount for guilty pleas.”

Gorman, 29, was jailed for 15 months and banned from driving for four years after admitting further charges of dangerous driving, failing to provide a breath specimen, failing to stop and having no licence or insurance.

Shackleton, 29, was jailed for eight months and Jardine, 23, was given nine months suspended for a year. Stewart, 21 was given a 12-month community order and a two-month curfew.

‘It’s not possible to prove who was the driver. Had it been so the CPS would have brought a charge of GBH’