Man who drove at over 100mph down M40 hard shoulder sentenced

17 April 2024, 09:02 | Updated: 17 April 2024, 18:16

A man has been sentenced for child neglect and dangerous driving after going over 100mph down the hard shoulder of the M40.

A police officer described the driving of Miley Connors as one of the "worst pieces of driving I have ever seen".

The 37-year-old was drunk at the time and caught on dashboard cameras racing down the hard shoulder of the motorway at over 100mph, swerving in and out of traffic.

At around 4.10pm on 29 December 2021, Thames Valley Police received multiple calls about a silver SUV driving down the hard shoulder, at first in Warwickshire, before heading into Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

Connors went on to hit the central reservation between junctions nine and 8A, causing his car to spin and lose a tyre.

However, he kept driving until eventually he stopped on the hard shoulder, to get out and urinate.

It was then a child got out the car and ran up a nearby embankment.

Connors fled and officers began searching nearby fields for them both with the aid of a helicopter.

They found them after a report from a member of the public, and in police footage Connors could be seen vomiting, on his knees, with the child stood next to him.

A member of the public who called the police said Connors could "hardly walk".

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When officers arrived, the little boy was cold, wet and muddy, police said, as Connors kept vomiting.

Officers said the actions of Connors, from Hambrook, Chichester, could have easily taken several lives, but fortunately no one was injured.

Connors was given a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years at Oxford Crown Court on Friday 12 April, disqualified from driving for two years, ordered to do 250 of unpaid work and fined £3,000.

Investigating officer PC Amy Boughton said: "This was one of the worst pieces of driving I have ever seen.

"Not only is it shocking to watch, it's gut-wrenching to know there was a young child in that vehicle, scared and crying.

"I can only hope that Connors take this second chance and makes recompense for the lives he could have so easily taken because of his reckless actions."