A prison officer was engrossed in gambling on his mobile phone when he violently crashed into the rear of a pregnant woman's vehicle at a staggering speed of 71 miles per hour. Jack Bentley, aged 30, had dedicated 'almost the entirety' of his two-hour drive to accessing gambling and gaming websites before colliding with the car, which was transporting the woman, her partner, two additional children, and the family dog.
Severe Injuries and Emergency Birth
The pregnant victim, who was 33 weeks into her pregnancy, sustained a fractured pelvis and was compelled to undergo an emergency Caesarean section. She gave birth to her premature daughter, weighing merely four pounds, while under general anaesthesia. The baby's father was unable to attend the birth, as his daughter in the car suffered a fractured ankle, and the family dog required urgent spinal surgery, as detailed at Derby Crown Court.
Reckless Driving Prior to Collision
Bentley, a former soldier, had been observed earlier clipping the kerb and weaving unpredictably through traffic. His erratic behaviour alarmed another motorist so profoundly that they captured a photograph of his vehicle as a precautionary measure. Recorder Penelope Stanistreet-Keen, while sentencing Bentley to two years and four months imprisonment, remarked, 'For pretty much the whole two hours you were in the car, you had been on your phone on gambling and gaming sites.'
She further elaborated, 'Eight miles earlier, a witness was so concerned about your driving—clipping the kerb, hogging the outside lane, and weaving in and out of traffic—they took a photo of your car in case they needed to call the police. The traffic in front of you was stationary, but your car did not slow down; you did not brake or deviate, and you ploughed into the back of a car at 71mph.'
Impact on the Victims
The collision occurred on the eastbound A50 near Foston, Derbyshire, during the early evening of April 6 last year. Bentley was returning home to Derby from Blackpool, with mobile phone evidence confirming his extensive use of gambling sites throughout the journey. The victims were travelling back to Yorkshire after visiting relatives.
CCTV footage presented in court depicted Bentley's Ford Focus crashing into the rear of their Nissan X-Trail. Phillip Plant, prosecuting, stated, 'The pregnant victim suffered a fractured pelvis, her step-daughter a fractured ankle, and the dog, which was in a crate in the back, had to undergo emergency spinal surgery. Her daughter was born by emergency C-section, and her partner could not be there for the birth.'
In her victim impact statement, the mother expressed, 'Any mother should not give birth without skin-to-skin contact, and for the first three weeks all I could see of my daughter was her in an incubator from my hospital bed.'
Legal Proceedings and Mitigation
Bentley pleaded guilty to two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, with his driving described as 'all over the place' by a witness minutes before the crash. He has no prior convictions. Justin Ablott, mitigating, explained that Bentley served in the Army in Kenya but was compelled to leave due to hearing problems caused by artillery fire. More recently, he has worked as a prison officer but has been suspended pending the case's outcome.
The barrister conveyed, 'He would like to say how sorry and devastated he is for what he has done. He knows the incident has had a huge effect on the victims and their family.' In addition to the jail term, the judge disqualified Bentley from driving for three years and two months. The specific prison where he works was not disclosed in court.
