Drunk driver jailed after passenger left paralysed
An over-the-limit motorist who left a woman paralysed after a serious car crash has been jailed for 32 months.
Aaron Wood, age 30, of Northfield, Birmingham, was driving at speeds of 53mph with three passengers on a 30mph road before crashing his car and leaving two of his passengers with severe injuries at midnight on January 25 this year on Alcester Road, Moseley.
One of the passengers in his car, a Canadian woman, suffered severe spinal cord injuries and was declared tetraplegic. A second passenger sustained multiple fractures and bleeding. The third passenger escaped uninjured.
When police arrived at the scene, Wood gave a breath test of 80 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath.
He pleaded guilty at Birmingham Magistrates Court in July to two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and one count of driving a motor vehicle with an alcohol level above the legal limit.
He was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court and was also disqualified from driving for eight years and four months starting from July 21 2020 and an extended retest was ordered.
Claire Nicholls, district crown prosecutor at CPS West Midlands, said: “This was a horrific incident involving two victims who were seriously injured as a result of Aaron Wood's actions. One victim suffered catastrophic and devastating injuries which will change her life forever.
"I want to thank both victims for their courage and support of the prosecution case throughout these proceedings. While today’s sentence can never replace the trauma they have suffered, I hope the fact that justice has been delivered brings some comfort to them.”
