Judge's seven-word rebuke of driver after car smash 'could have killed hundreds'

Daily Mirror

3 days ago

Jack Emmerson, 33, can continue driving after having eight points put on his licence despite crashing through level crossing barriers, leaving his vehicle on a busy railway line
A judge scolded a reckless driver who smashed through a set of level crossing barriers before abandoning his car on the tracks.
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Jack Emmerson fled the scene and chose not to report the damaged vehicle on the railway line in Leicestershire in February, and was told his foolish actions "could easily have caused hundreds of deaths". Magistrates said they were horrified the 33-year-old's actions, estimated to cost £30,000 in damage and delay repayments, as he was sentenced.
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Police arrived to find Emmerson's Vauxhall Insignia blocking the line, with a train stopped nearby. The airbags had deployed in the car, and the front of the vehicle was badly damaged, Leicester Magistrates' Court heard. Skid marks showed the car had failed to make a bend and gone through the level crossing barriers.
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Prosecutor Leanne Ashcroft said Emmerson, 33, had been "driving at speed" and made "no attempt to navigate the bend in the road". The incident happened at about 5.45pm on Sunday, February 9, at the level crossing in Orston Lane near Bottesford in the north of the county, LeicestershireLive report.
Ms Ashcroft said a witness had spotted Emmerson - who lives in Whatton, Nottinghamshire, three miles from the scene of the crash - get out of the car, which had "significant front end damage", and head off on foot along the railway tracks. She said there was also "significant damage" to the level crossing, valued at about £4,000.
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There were also further costs to Network Rail of about £26,125 due to the delays to trains on the line, which runs from Nottingham to Grantham, she said.
Emmerson pleaded guilty to failing to report an accident, interfering with key infrastructure and driving without due care and attention. He was represented in court by Zara Cowan. She said: "He accepted that he took the bend at speed and he was unable to control the vehicle. This is his first accident he has ever had, so I'd ask you to take that into consideration."
Ms Cowan said Emmerson lived with his father and had a 47-mile round trip to get to work every day. She said Emmerson already had three points on his licence and that anything more than eight more points for the latest offence would leave him unemployed and unable to give money to his father.
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The chairman of the bench, Jane Morton, told Emmerson: "I think 'horrified' is the only word for this - you could have killed hundreds of people.
"You left the scene. You left your car on a level crossing. It's appalling."
Emmerson was given an 18-month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work, 10 days on programmes recommended by the Probation Service and a 12-month mental health treatment requirement. He also has to pay £85 court costs and a £114 victim surcharge.
He had eight points put on his licence, meaning he can still drive.
Mrs Morton said: "You retain your licence on a thread. "If you do anything else, you know that no other bench will give you this opportunity. You will be banned and it will be lengthy."