A man banned from the road crashed his friend's car while speeding, leaving three people seriously hurt. Alix Grant, 39, got behind the wheel, looking for 'for something to do'.
He attempted to overtake another car, driving on the wrong side of the road. Travelling with 'excessive speed' around a bend, on Shepley Road in Audenshaw, Tameside, he crashed into two young men driving home.
Those two men, who told a court they were 'lucky to be alive'; Grant; and his pal were left seriously hurt following the incident on January 6, 2021.
At Minshull Street Crown Court, Judge Bernadette Baxter told Grant - who has an 'appalling record' of driving offences - his crimes were 'extremely serious'. He was jailed for causing injury by dangerous driving, along with an affray charge, the details of which were heard at a separate hearing.
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Prosecuting, Chloe Fordham said Grant offered to drive a friend home from a party earlier in the evening as she'd had a drink. He drove her home in her own car, which he was not insured to drive. Grant was also banned from the road following a previous offence.
Grant later suggested they 'go for a drive for something to do'. They set off again in her car.
CCTV footage showed Grant speeding and driving on the wrong side of the road. Two men driving home in the opposite direction described the moment they noticed Grant speeding towards them in a statements read to court.
"I just remember seeing a set of lights coming straight for me," one said. "The car was coming so quickly it felt like 90 miles per hour."
The man said it was 'like an operating theatre on the road' following the smash. He suffered leg and collarbone fractures.
"It is the first thing I think about when I wake up," his victim statement added. "I keep having flashbacks. I realise I was so lucky to come out alive."
The other victim said the crash left him with 'lifelong injuries'. He said the incident would live with him 'for the rest of [his] life'.
Defending, Jennifer Devans-Tamakloe said Grant himself was left with 'serious physical injuries'. She told the court he had a history of problems with alcohol, but took 'full responsibility for his issues' and that he 'feels for everyone who is still suffering and is sorry'.
Judge Baxter said it was 'ironic' Grant offered to drive considering his 'appalling record' of driving offences. He has previous convictions for dangerous driving in 2006; and driving without due care and with excess alcohol in 2018, for which he was disqualified from driving for three years.
Grant, of Chapel Street, Dukinfield, was sentenced to five years and nine months as part of a consecutive sentence for a separate affray offence from 2020.
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