Drunk driver injured in crash has jail term reduced

Judge David Smyth QC told Philip Pope had he fought the case he would have sentenced him to two years, but given his guilty pleas and the impact the accident has had on his own life, he was prepared to reduce that term.

Pope, from Tamery Pass in Belfast, who admitted two charges of causing grievous bodily injury through careless driving, was given concurrent jail terms for driving with excess alcohol and using a motor vehicle without insurance.

Prosecutor Gareth Purvis told the city’s Crown Court that last September, Pope was giving a lift to others when he was involved in a serious collision in Templemore Avenue in east Belfast.

It appeared, said Mr Purvis, that Pope initially struck one car before veering across the street, hitting a number of other parked vehicles, some of which were left write-offs.

Fortunately a front-seat female passenger escaped largely unscathed, while two of the back-seat passengers were injured, one with a fractured jaw, the other with a fractured wrist. Pope himself was found screaming, covered in blood, and apparently trapped in his car.

Defence barrister Peter Coiley said that the offences had undoubtedly impacted on Pope, who was himself seriously injured, with broken ribs, and a fractured hip, and which also left him with emotional difficulties.

However, on a more positive note, he now realised the impact alcohol, his vice, had been having on his life.

Mr Coiley said Pope had now made positive changes in his lifestyle.