North Shields road rage driver convicted against family

A road rage driver who could have killed a family of four when he crashed into their car has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Gareth Jobson, 45, was chasing another car as he drove towards a roundabout in North Seaton, near Ashington, Northumberland, and crashed into a vehicle carrying two adults and their young daughters, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Jobson, of North Shields, North Tyneside, who had been drinking alcohol before the crash, fled without checking whether he had hurt anyone, prosecutors said.

He admitted dangerous driving, driving without insurance and failing to stop after an accident or report an accident. He was given a 14-month prison sentence, suspended for 21 months, with 200 hours of unpaid work.

Jobson drove his black Audi “erratically” and at a high speed as he followed and repeatedly tried to overtake a Volvo carrying a couple on the A189 near Woodhorn Country Park on July 21, prosecutor David Robinson-Young said.

As the two cars approached the North Seaton roundabout, Jobson drove out and crashed into a Kia Sportage that was already in the intersection, the court heard.

The man and woman in the car and their seven-year-old daughter were taken to hospital, while their seven-month-old baby was unharmed.

Jobson shouted at the couple in the Volvo and drove against the flow of traffic without making any checks to see if anyone “was hurt or not,” Robinson-Young said.

In a statement to the court, the female passenger who owned the Kia Sportage through a mobility program said she was “traumatized” by the crash and plagued by flashbacks and visions of her family’s deaths.

“Both my daughters were in the car,” the woman said, adding: “The driver could have killed us all.”

She said she could “never forgive” Jobson for fleeing the scene, adding: “It was clear he had no care or concern for the well-being of my family.”

Both she and her partner said the blow had left them in ‘crippling pain’ and that it had cost her £2,000 to take out a lease on a new car.

Footage from a pub showed Jobson drinking shortly before the crash, but because he left the scene police were unable to obtain an alcohol reading from him.

The court heard Jobson had previous convictions, including one for drink-driving in 2003.

In mitigation, Helen Towers said Jobson, of Netherton Avenue, was “deeply ashamed” of his driving and decision to flee.

She said he had children and could “only imagine the turmoil” caused in the family.

Judge Sarah Mallett said Jobson’s offending was so serious that it exceeded the threshold for custody, but the prison sentence could be suspended because there was a “realistic prospect of rehabilitation”, he had “strong personal mitigating circumstances” and there was currently a “serious problem” was with the overcrowding in the prisons”. “.

Jobson was also banned from driving for two and a half years and ordered to pay £2,500 compensation at the rate of £50 per week.