Drink-driving mechanic fled scene with dad after smashing into Leeds taxi and causing serious injuries

The Range Rover driven by car mechanic Jordan Hepton was out of control and ploughing into parked cars before careering into the oncoming taxi along Waterloo Lane in Bramley late in the evening of May 12 last year.

Prosecuting the case at Leeds Crown Court, Ayesha Smart said three people got out of the 4x4 and ran, with one returning a short time later to set fire to the vehicle.

The taxi had picked up a male and female from Chapel Allerton at around 11.15pm with the cab heading along Broad Lane before turning off into Waterloo Lane.

The driver tried to swerve out of the way of the oncoming, out-of-control Range Rover but with parked cars on both sides of the streets it was “not possible “ to avoid the collision, Miss Smart said.

The force of the crash pushed the taxi backwards and sent it spinning and colliding with another vehicle. The taxi driver needed surgery to a broken forearm, while the male passenger suffered hernia and also required surgery.

Officers went to Hepton home on Leeds and Bradford Road in Bramley where they found him on the floor complaining of breathing problems. His father also had an injury to his leg. Both said they had been in a crash but denied driving the Range Rover.

Hepton, aged 21, later admitted being behind the wheel but said he could not remember what had happened. He was also over the drink-drive limit and the legal limit for cannabis.

He admitted two counts of causing serious injury through danger driving, along with drink-driving, being over the drug-drive limit, failing to stop after an accident and having no insurance. He has two previous convictions.

Mitigating, Jeremy Barton said Hepton had entered early guilty pleas and said that he had never committed offences of this magnitude before.

He said: “The behaviour of this defendant is out of character to say the least. It is out of the blue. His decision to drive was wholly misjudged to put it mildly. He accepts his behaviour was appalling. He lacks maturity in many ways.

"He has been in employment throughout his life and is currently employed as a car mechanic.”

Judge Neil Clark told Hepton: “These are very, very serious offences and you made several deliberate decisions about how you drove that day. You deliberately ignored the rules of the road.

"You were under the influence and drove at high speed. You had no regard for the safety of other road users. Anybody who chooses to drive while over the limit, having taken drugs, and badly injures two people can only expect one kind of sentence.”

He jailed Hepton for 27 months and banned him from the road for four years and one month. He will also need to take an extended driving test to get his licence back when his ban expires.