'Cowardly' drink driver crashes uninsured car and runs away leaving injured passengers behind

Footage (click to play above) shows a ‘horrific’ crash which left three young people seriously injured. The uninsured driver fled the scene, leaving five passengers behind - including one in the boot.

In the video, phone footage captures the ‘inexperienced’ driver get behind the wheel and drive at speed after he’d been drinking. Then, watch as ‘cowardly’ Dylan Crocker runs to hide from police after crashing into a barn.

Crashed into wall

Dylan Crocker was driving the Ford Fiesta on April 21, 2024 when he crashed into a wall. He fled the scene, but was found hiding nearby by police after members of the public who had stopped at the scene to give first aid to the injured passengers told police which direction he had ran off.

One of the passengers required extensive surgery after her pelvis shattered when it became detached from her spine and later lost her job due to her level of injury. In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman told that, at the age of just 20, she has been told to “expect pain for the rest of my life.”

Broken ribs

Another passenger also required spinal surgery and suffered broken ribs, nerve damage and had to learn to walk again. She was also dismissed from her job due to her injuries. The crash has also left mental scars on the passengers, including one who said he doesn’t want to leave the house.

Crocker, of Houghton-le-Spring, failed a roadside breath test and later admitted three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and one count of having no insurance. He was sentenced to 30 months in a young offenders’ institute and handed a 36-month driving ban at Teesside Crown Court on Friday (May 23).

Detective Constable Rachael Johnson, from Cleveland Police’s Collision Investigation Unit, said: “This crash was horrific and has had long-lasting effects upon those involved, leaving some with both severe physical and psychological suffering.

Drink driver was speeding

“Crocker left the scene to try to evade police and avoid the consequences of his actions. He was an inexperienced driver who was under the influence of alcohol, he had been driving at more than twice the speed limit and he was not wearing a seatbelt. In a video recording taken moments before the collision, he was also clearly distracted. Not one but all of the ‘fatal four’ factors have been evident in this collision.

“I welcome the sentence handed to Dylan Crocker and hope it sends a stark message to all drivers that taking risks with lives can have devastating consequences. This collision has certainly completely changed not only the lives of the injured passengers, but also those of their families.

“I’d like to express my thanks to those members of the public at the scene who assisted the passengers until emergency services arrived. They also helped to locate the driver who had left the scene. They did a remarkable job; thank you to all those people.”