Driver drank nine pints before crashing van

A driver drank nine pints of beer before crashing his van and seriously injuring one of his passengers.

Thomas Doran, 40, pulled into the path of an oncoming car on the A18 near Scunthorpe in February 2023.

A woman sitting in the back of the van was flung out on to the road and suffered "extensive head injuries", Humberside Police said.

Doran, of Poplar Terrace in Keighley, was found guilty of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and assaulting an emergency worker. He was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court for four years and six months.

Doran had been drinking in a pub on the A18 on 25 February before setting off with two passengers, Humberside Police said.

Following the crash on Mortal Ash Hill he assaulted a paramedic who was assisting the life-saving care of the woman, the force added.

A roadside breath test showed Doran was almost twice over the legal drink-drive limit. He later refused to provide a sample for blood alcohol analysis.

Roads policing officer PC Wade Cruse described Doran as an "utterly selfish and senseless man who willingly gambled with the safety of himself, his passengers and innocent members of the public".

"This case is a stark reminder of how the reckless decision of driving whilst under the influence of drink or drugs can have devastating consequences," PC Cruse said.

"The driver made the decision to put others' lives in his hands while impaired, including those closest to him, and the outcome could have been much worse."

He added: "The short distance from the pub to the collision is all it took to turn a day out into a lifelong ordeal."

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