Four men have been jailed following recent convictions for road offences committed in County Durham.
Two of the offenders were involved in the taking of a car from a man who had become lost on a road in east Durham.
It was found abandoned within hours after crashing on an A19 slip road.
Two other men were jailed after dangerous overtaking caused crashes, one leaving another driver with life-threatening injuries.
Offenders jailed recently for road incidents in County Durham, top l - r, Jordan Fluen and Josh Hyde, and bottom l - r, Brandon Turnbull and Shaun Kelsey
A masked man robbed a driver of his car before it crashed on an A19 slip road in County Durham.
Josh Hyde andJordan Fluen were jailed for stealing a Ford Mondeo in High Hesleden, near Blackhall Colliery, on Monday, March 2.
The car crashed on an A19 slip road at Peterlee later that night.
Hyde, 23, formerly of Peterlee and now of no fixed abode, admitted the robbery at Newcastle Crown Court on August 17, at the start of his trial.
He returned to court the next day and was jailed for four and a half years.
Josh Hyde, left, and Jordan Fluen
Fluen, 24, of Throston Grange Lane, Hartlepool, was in the passenger seat.
He admitted to handling the stolen car and returned to court for sentencing on September 28.
He was given a ten-month prison sentence to begin after the 24-week term he was already serving.
A “disgraceful” cocaine-fuelled driver caused a head-on crash and fled, leaving another driver with life-threatening injuries, Durham Crown Court heard.
Brandon William Turnbull crossed double white lines to overtake on the A183 between Chester-le-Street and Bournmoor at 8.15pm on Sunday, December 28.
He accelerated when he saw an approaching car, but crashed head-on into the Mazda at an estimated 70mph.
The Mazda driver, a carer returning from work, tried to swerve but had no time to avoid the crash. He suffered multiple serious internal injuries and needed life-saving hospital treatment, Durham Crown Court heard.
Turnbull hobbled away without checking on the victim and was arrested later when he sought hospital treatment for his own injuries.
The 27-year-old, of Grasmere Terrace, Chester-le-Street, admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, failing to stop after a crash and driving over the drink-drive and drug-drive limits.
Judge Tom Mitchell called Turnbull’s driving “a moment of madness” that caused “grave injury”. He said leaving the victim in the road added to his lasting physical and psychological suffering.
He jailed Turnbull for three years, saying the offences were too serious for anything but immediate custody despite his family difficulties.
Judge Mitchell also banned Turnbull from driving for 54 months and ordered him to pass an extended test before getting behind the wheel again.
A slurring driver berated a woman he had just crashed into while trapped in his wrecked car after a dangerous double overtake.
An off-duty police officer approached Shaun Maurice Kelsey’s Vauxhall Astra after the crash near the brow of a hill and said it stank of stale beer.
The officer was one of the drivers Kelsey overtook before the collision.
He checked on those involved before speaking to Kelsey in his car.
The crash happened on Pit Lane, between New Brancepeth and Brandon, at 1.45pm on February 18, Durham Crown Court heard.
Witnesses saw Kelsey overtake in his Astra, fail to negotiate a sharp bend near the hill’s brow and hit an oncoming Mini and Mazda.
Kelsey refused to give police a blood sample, saying he was scared and believed officers were wasting their time.
Kelsey continued to blame the Mazda driver after being taken into custody.
The Mazda driver was taken to A&E with a wrist injury, while the Mini driver suffered minor neck pain.
Kelsey, 41, of Linden Park, Brandon, admitted dangerous driving and refusing to give a blood sample.
The court heard he had three previous dangerous-driving convictions and one for driving while disqualified.
Judge Aisha Wadoodi noted a Probation Service assessment that Kelsey posed a high risk of harming other road users in future.
She jailed him for 18 months and banned him from driving for four years at a sentencing hearing on October 5.