Crash caused by phone gambler led to premature birth

A man who was gambling on his phone when he crashed into a car, causing a pregnant woman to give birth prematurely, has been jailed.

Jack Bentley hit a stationary Nissan X-Trail queuing in traffic on the A50 in Hatton, Derbyshire on 6 April.

Police said the driver of the Nissan suffered whiplash and the pregnant passenger was rushed into hospital with a fractured pelvis. Two other children in the same car suffered injuries while the family's pet dog was seriously hurt and had to undergo emergency surgery.

Bentley, 30, admitted two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and was jailed for 28 months at Derby Crown Court and banned from driving for 38 months.

Derbyshire Police said Bentley, of Meadow Way, Derby, had been travelling home from Blackpool when the collision happened at 18:45 BST.

A driver in the left-hand lane captured the footage on her dashcam, which was used as evidence.

Bentley, driving in the right-hand lane, did not see see the stationary traffic and crashed without altering his speed, Derbyshire Police said.

He was seen earlier veering into the grass verge of the eastbound carriageway between junctions 6 and 5, as well as swerving between lanes.

Bentley was arrested at the scene. Analysis of his phone data following the crash showed he had been using his phone while driving, visiting online gambling sites, the force said.

After the crash the pregnant woman had to undergo an emergency C-section, leaving her premature baby in intensive care for a number of weeks where she suffered two collapsed lungs.

The baby later made a recovery and was able to go home.

In a victim impact statement, the mother said: "I needed an emergency Caesarean due to my baby being in distress. I found this very traumatic and didn't want my baby to be born like that and that early.

"My baby was born without skin to skin contact and me and my partner had to wait to see her.

"When you have a baby you expect to be in a bubble with your partner and newborn baby but we were separated across three wards in the hospital and missed out on so much in those early moments.

"No mother or father should have to go through this.

"The next three weeks we spent in hospital getting our baby strong enough to come home."

Following sentencing on 11 February, PC Richard Morris, from Derbyshire Police, said: "This was an appalling display of driving by Bentley, who spent the majority of his journey distracted by being on his phone.

"I know that the physical, mental and emotional trauma from this incident continues to impact on this family, who were simply going out their day when this wholly avoidable collision occurred."

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