Hit-and-run driver left mother trapped in car wreckage for two hours after running from scene on Sunderland road

A mum was trapped in the wreckage of her car and unable to comfort her upset child for two hours after a hit-and-run driver ploughed into their vehicle.
Bradley StoreyBradley Storey
Bradley Storey

Bradley Storey, 18, smashed into the family car after driving a Vauxhall Corsa at "considerably in excess of the speed limit" as he approached a roundabout, then ran off from the scene.Newcastle Crown Court heard the driver had her 12-year-old son, who suffers from autism and does not cope well with strangers, with her in her vehicle and was unable to properly help him after the impact.The smash happened at Wessington Way, Sunderland, on September 2 last year.Prosecutor Emma Dowling told the court: "The force of the impact spun her car 180 degrees."The defendant flees the scene. She was shocked by the collision and police were on the scene straight way."She suffered two fractured ribs, cuts and abrasions to her feet and hands."She was stuck inside the vehicle, before she could be released by the emergency services, for about two hours."She was anxious not just for herself but for her son, who suffers from autism and does not cope well with strangers."She couldn't do anything to comfort him as she was restrained in the vehicle due to the impact of the collision."The court heard the mum's car was written-off in the crash and she had to spend £1,750 on a hire car.The mum said in a victim impact statement: "Due to the accident I have suffered immense physical and mental pain."I cannot accept someone could do this, not just crash into someone but leave people trapped inside the car."My son suffers from autism and saw his mother trapped in the car and had to be dealt with by strangers."The court heard Storey was arrested and denied being the driver of the car.Police carried out forensic testing on the airbag to prove he had been behind the wheel.Storey, of Manx Square, Sunderland, admitted dangerous driving.Tony Cornberg, defending, said the consequences of Storey's bad driving that day were "completely unintended" and he is thoroughly ashamed of his own behaviour and "cowardice".Mr Cornberg said Storey has learned his lesson from his first experience of facing criminal charges and added that an immediate jail term could be "destructive".He said Storey has a job and a good support network for the future.Mr recorder Eric Elliott QC sentenced Storey to six months in a young offenders institution, suspended for two years, with rehabilitation requirements, 100hours unpaid work and £1,000 compensation with a 12 month driving ban and extended test requirement.The judge told him: "You very cowardly left the scene but the driver of the car in which you crashed, with her 12-year-old autistic son, was stuck in the car for two hours."She must have been absolutely petrified, not only for her position, but for the concern she had for her young boy."The judge said Storey had been "cowardly" in denying he was the driver but character references show he is also a "hard working, decent and industrious" young man.