Disqualified Driver Jailed For Staffordshire Crash Which Left Four Children Injured

5 March 2019, 08:36 | Updated: 5 March 2019, 08:40

A disqualified driver, who crashed into a car in Staffordshire leaving a woman and four children injured, has been jailed.

21 year-old Josiah Johnson, from Copthall Road in Handsworth, failed to stop for police in a stolen Ford Fiesta in October 2018 and sped off when he collided head on with another vehicle.

Johnson was sent to prison for three years eight months after being convicted of dangerous driving.

He had earlier admitted dangerous driving, together with driving without insurance, disqualified driving, possession of Class B drugs and handling stolen goods. At Stafford Crown Court on Monday (4th March) he also admitted possessing a knife on the day of the collision.

Johnson was arrested following the crash on the A5 in Cannock on 18 October, 2018.

Police had spotted Johnson driving the stolen vehicle in Walsall Road, Great Wryley and followed him. The Fiesta drove through a police stinger patrol, but despite this, Johnson continued to drive towards Cannock at speed, failing to stop for officers who had put their blue lights and sirens on.

Police called off the pursuit for safety reasons, but Johnson continued to drive before colliding head on with a Renault Scenic car on the A5, while driving on the opposite side of the dual carriageway.

The car was driven by a 32-year-old woman, with her children, three boys then aged one, two and 11 and a daughter, then aged 10.

The children were taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries. Their mum had to be cut from the car and suffered multiple fractures to her wrist and arm, which needed surgery following the collision.