Moment road-rage driver swerved into traffic and paralysed two girls for life
THE parents of two girls left paralysed when a motorist smashed into their car during a road rage chase yesterday released harrowing footage of the drama.
Andrew Nay, a 39-year- old Jaguar Land Rover boss, was filmed making an ‘absolutely ridiculous’ turn into the path of the Raiba family’s Vauxhall as he chased another vehicle in his 2.6ton company car.
The impact left Robert and Renate Raiba with broken bones. Their daughters, Katrina and Karlina, aged five and eight, suffered severe spinal injuries.
Nay had admitted four counts of dangerous driving but denied being motivated by road rage, claiming it was a momentary lapse of judgment.
Yesterday he was convicted on that matter following a three-day trial. The Raibas said the dashcam footage that helped bring Nay to justice would show motorists the results of reckless driving. The Latvian pair said in a statement: ‘Andrew Nay’s reckless actions had devastating consequences for our two beautiful daughters. Katrina and Karlina were happy, active children and he has robbed them of that. We will never be able to forgive him.
‘Every day they ask “When will we start feeling our legs again?” They think it’s going to get better and it’s too hard to tell them.’
Nay, who is a qualified off-road instructor, had been chasing a Mazda along the A509 near Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, because he believed it had cut him up at an earlier roundabout. The trial heard from a string of motorists who said his £50,000 Land Rover Discovery 4 was tailgating them so closely they could not even see his headlights. The driver of the people carrier he was chasing described Nay’s behaviour as bullying.
Matthew Rowcliffe, prosecuting, said the woman admitted putting her hand out the window and sticking her middle finger up at Nay because he was less than a car length from her vehicle.
The court heard the woman overtook a Mercedes to put another car between them but was unable to make much further progress due to heavy traffic.
She safely turned right and Nay followed her – but straight into the path of the Raiba family’s Signum. Leslie Miller, who saw Nay make the turn, told the court: ‘It was absolutely ridiculous. There was no reason why it couldn’t have waited.’
In evidence to his trial at Northampton Crown Court, Nay said he had noticed ‘nothing in particular’ during his journey. But Judge Adrienne Lucking QC rejected his testimony, ruling that he crashed while chasing the Mazda. Describing the evidence as overwhelming, Judge Lucking said Nay had harried the people carrier after being prevented from leaving a roundabout on the A14.
Representing the family, Richard Langton, of law firm Slater and Gordon, said: ‘This is one of the most heart-breaking cases I have ever had to deal with.
‘Nay was an experienced driver, yet his complete disregard for other road users has left two innocent children paralysed from the waist down.’ Nay, from Corby, Northamptonshire, was told to prepare himself for a jail term when he returns to court today.
Sergeant Tony Hopkins, of Northamptonshire Police, said: ‘This was someone who was an experienced driver, who should have been more aware of his driving yet he showed complete disregard for other drivers in what was an extended length of aggressive and intimidating driving.
‘ Sadly, the result today will make no difference to the girls’ lives who will likely live with a life of intense disability.
‘But we have done what we can to get this man off our roads.’