Drugged up Calderdale driver jailed after crashing into van during police car chase

Bradford Crown Court heard that the van driver Christopher Macey needed surgery on a fractured ankle and was off work for three months following the collision in August 2019.

William Briggs, 28, of Lane Ends Terrace, Hipperholme, was jailed for 18 months after he admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

The pursuit began that afternoon when officers saw Briggs on his mobile phone with the Ford Focus veering in the road.

During a pursuit lasting a few minutes Briggs drove through red lights and did a U-turn over grass before colliding with the van at the junction of Brighouse Road and Shaw Lane.

Briggs, who had cocaine, ketamine and cannabis in his blood, was trapped unconscious in his wrecked car.

Mr Macey was in plaster for six weeks and the injury had affected his work.

The court heard that Briggs was already serving a 40-month jail sentence for offences of violence.

Recorder Abdul Iqbal QC said Briggs had shown a flagrant disregard for the rules of the road and for the safety of other drivers.

Drug-driving charges against Briggs had been dealt with separately by the magistrates court and Recorder Iqbal described the situation as “a nonsense” and ordered an investigation into why the Crown Prosecution Service allowed it to happen.

The judge said Briggs’ 18-month jail sentence should run consecutively to his existing prison term and banned him from driving for three years and five months.

Briggs will also have to pass an extended retest before lawfully driving on the roads again.

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