A speeding Audi driver who left a woman with life-long injuries after ploughing into her car at 90mph has been spared jail – so he can spend time with his children.
Dad-of-two Gurdeep Notay, 29, shot out of a T-junction in a Warwickshire village and ploughed into Debbie Ratcliffe’s car moments after colliding with a police car.
He then fled the scene, leaving Mrs Ratcliffe trapped with a broken and dislocated ankle before trying to blame her for the crash when he was arrested.
Notay, of Rugby, Warks., was sentenced to 21 months suspended for two years after he admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving at Coventry Crown Court on Friday (7/12).
He was ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work and banned from driving for four years.
Recorder Anupama Thompson said: “You overtook another car, and as you did that you collided with a police officer’s vehicle.
“Instead of stopping, you carried on at even greater speed.
“You then approached a T-junction.
“Instead of stopping and coming to your senses, you carried on without even remotely attempting to slow down, and as a result collided with the vehicle driven by Miss Ratcliffe.
“Again, rather than coming to your senses and facing up to your responsibilities, you ran away and hid.
“Ms Ratcliffe has sustained serious injuries, the effects of which are going to be with her for the rest of her life, and she may require further surgery.
“You are a man who has behaved irresponsibly, but I don’t see why your two children and one on the way should pay the penalty for that.
“It is only because of the effect it would have on your children that I have taken this course.”
The court heard that at just after 12 noon on September 2, a police car was on the outskirts of the village of Shilton, Warks., as an officer kept an eye on a Ford Focus.
The officer then saw the Focus being overtaken on a bend by Notay’s £50,000 Audi Q7 four-wheel drive sport-utility vehicle (SUV), at 90mph.
The Audi was swerving from left to right before clipping the police car, which was part-way out out from a junction.
Notay continued speeding through the village before careering into Mrs Ratcliffe’s Mini which was waiting at a junction.
Mrs Ratcliffe was left trapped inside her wrecked car while Notay fled on foot but was arrested nearby.
Notay said he had tried to avoid the police car by swerving, and had then panicked after hitting it, the court heard.
The court heard Mrs Ratcliffe’s injuries were so serious she is at high risk of developing arthritis and “may always have a degree of pain”.
In a victim impact statement, she said: “The driver of the Audi initially tried to blame me.
“He ran away, which is a selfish thing to do.
“He had no consideration for me, and left me trapped in my vehicle.”
Philip Bradley QC, defending, said: “Debbie Ratcliffe was an innocent person going about her daily business, and she was affected in the way she’s described by my client’s unlawful and dangerous actions.
“He knows that he must be punished for that.
“I have to accept there’s been a degree of prevarication on his part in terms of his acceptance of precisely what he did.
“It is made all the more unattractive when there was, early in his interview, explicit blame on others.”
“He tells me he fully accepts the prosecution case.
“He has written a letter to the victim which stands in fairly stark contrast to the finger-pointing.
“He accepts fully he is responsible for serious injuries to a completely blameless lady.”
By Mark Cardwell