Dangerous driver jailed

A dangerous driver has been jailed for causing a serious collision that injured his passenger.

Laindon residents alerted police to a collision involving a driver in Hatterill, Basildon, after they heard a car’s brakes screech followed by a loud bang in the early hours of Sunday 3 September last year.

When police arrived on scene, they found a blue Mondeo had collided with a lamp post and a woman passenger who had sustained multiple serious injuries.

Despite, fleeing the scene, Roads Policing Unit officers located the driver, Sean Byrne, at a property nearby, where he was arrested, still in possession of the car key.

The investigation found that Sean Byrne had been speeding when he lost control, going over the mini-roundabout, before hitting the lamp post and coming to halt on the verge, facing the wrong way.

Sean Byrne, 37, of San Remo Road, Canvey Island, was remanded into custody to appear at Southend-on-Sea Magistrates' Court the following day to answer charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and failure to provide a specimen.

On Tuesday 13 August, Byrne was jailed for a total of 40 months and disqualified for four years for the offences. No Separate penalty was issued for failing to stop at the scene of a collision, but he was ordered to take an extended driving test at the end of the disqualification.

Roads Policing officer, PC Benjamin Houghton-Clarke said:

Road safety is of paramount importance for all our road users and speeding means putting yourself and others at risk.
This case will show other drivers how we are supported by the courts to tackle all forms of dangerous driving.

Sean Byrne also suffered serious injuries and required hospital treatment at the time.