Dangerous driver is jailed
Ewart, 30, ran from wrecked vehicle leaving two injured girls trapped inside
A banned drink-driver who seriously injured two teenage girls in a horrific crash has been jailed for over two years. Geoffrey Ewart, 30, was driving around Scarborough in a BMW 330 when the car careered off the road and tumbled down a steep embankment.
Ewart - who had been blaring music and ignoring his passengers’ frantic pleas to stop - ran from the wrecked vehicle, leaving the two girls trapped inside, York Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Andrew Semple said one of the girls heard the car “ticking”, which “terrified” her because she thought it was about to explode.
An ambulance crew arrived at 12.10am - about 40 minutes after the accident occurred on Castle Road on June 24 last year - and took the girls to hospital.
One of them suffered serious injuries including broken bones and was rendered immobile for several weeks.
Mr Semple said the car, which had come off its wheels, had suffered £12,500 of damage. Police found Ewart at a nearby taxi rank at about 1am.
“He was complaining of pain in his shoulder and he smelled of drink; his speech was slurred,” added Mr Semple.
Ewart, of Grisedale Crescent, Grangetown, near Middlesbrough, was breathalysed three hours later by which time his alcohol level had dipped, but experts worked out that at the time of the accident he would have been about one-and-a-half times over the drink-drive limit. Ewart, an off-shore oil rigger, was charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle-taking, drink-driving, having no insurance and driving while disqualified. He eventually admitted all the charges and appeared for sentence on Monday.
The court heard that the BMW belonged to Ewart’s father and that his son had taken it without his consent before setting off for Scarborough to meet a male friend who was holidaying with others at a caravan park for what he hoped would be a night of wild partying.
On the night in question, Ewart - who has previous convictions for serious violence, public disorder and perverting the course of justice - drove from the holiday park towards Scarborough, with his male friend in the front passenger seat and the girls in the back.
“He immediately started to drive very fast,” said Mr Semple. “One of the girls said her head was forced back into the seat by his speed.”
Judge Richard Wright QC slammed Ewart for his “dangerous, show-off ” driving and “callous” decision to leave the girls in the car as he fled the scene.
“You have shown little or no remorse towards your victims,” he added. Ewart was jailed for two years eight months, and given a five-year driving ban. £10 PRIZE WINNERS 056510 047543 071519 034945 041625 065091 022181 088935 089319 024921 048963 009945 091232 058833 072493 056239 079673 012449 036387 006145 056794 063835 025277 042827 040267 027403 024329 037523 029683 027150 006101 029077 071795 062633 024110 073615 032687 075252 032707 016513 076950 019147 030421 074337 054012 044937 013419 041693 010101