Ross Jackson’s “stupid” manoeuvre ended with his Volkswagen Golf “cartwheeling” through the air and landing on its roof after smashing into other cars.
A Scots driver who left a mother and daughter injured in a head-on crash while doing 98mph as he overtook up to 15 cars has been jailed.
Ross Jackson’s “stupid” manoeuvre ended with his Volkswagen Golf “cartwheeling” through the air and landing on its roof after smashing into other cars. Jackson was driving on the A697, near Wooler in Northumberland, when the horror incident took place at around 11.30am on November 10, 2023.
The 26-year-old, from Selkirk in the Borders, was heading north in a line of busy traffic when he decided to carry out the dangerous move. The court heard he was doing 80 to 90mph on the 60mph stretch as he sped past ten to fifteen cars. As reported by the Chronicle, one woman coming the other way had to take evasive action, mounting a kerb.
He then collided head-on with an Audi Q3 being driven by a woman, with her mother in the passenger seat. Dash-cam footage of the crash played in court showed the Golf “cartwheeling” through the air, hitting a number of other cars before landing on its roof.
The older woman in the Audi suffered serious injuries, including a fractured sternum, broken ribs. Her daughter, who suffered severe whiplash, said in a victim impact statement that she is “no longer the person I was before the collision” and said she had been suffered anxiety and PTSD and lost her businesses as a result of the crash.
She said she had to cancel a first class trip to New York which she had been due to go on for her 50th birthday a few weeks after the collision and said she “doesn’t have the same zest for life” as she did. Her mum added that she had previously led an active life but her injuries had impacted negatively on her life.
Jackson’s dog was ejected from the car in the collision and sustained injuries which led to it having to be put down. A subsequent police investigation found he was doing 98mph at the moment of impact.
Judge Graham Robinson said the footage shows his car “cartwheeling” through the air and landing on its roof after a “devastating impact” at a combined impact speed well in excess of 100mph.
He told Jackson: “This is an extremely serious case. This was obviously a highly dangerous manoeuvre, to overtake that many cars on a single carriageway at that kind of speed. The decision to overtake a line of traffic at speeds approaching 100mph is unfathomable to any rational driver.”
Jackson who pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, was jailed for 28 months and banned from driving for three years.
Brian Hegarty, defending, said: “The consequences of his dangerous driving are not lost upon him. He is devastated he caused such significant pain to the victims, who were completely blameless, of course. He is profoundly sorry and remorseful for what he has done.”
Mr Hegarty said Jackson has no previous convictions or speeding offences on his record and said the crash was a “complete aberration”. He added that Jackson has no recollection of the accident because he was seriously injured himself, including head injuries which led to him being put in an induced coma.
Mr Hegarty told the court: “All that can be done is to speculate that he misjudged the overtaking manoeuvre very badly.”
He added: “He was devastated he was responsible for the death of his beloved dog.” Mr Hegarty said Jackson is regarded as his employer as “honest, hard-working and dependable” and he said he told the court: “He has led a blameless life until this stupid overtaking manoeuvre.”
