Motorcycle accident claim news
19/01/2010

Paralysed man jailed for motoring offences

A 29-year-old man has been jailed and banned from driving for speeding and evading police in a high performance BMW he bought with money secured from a motorcycle accident claim.

The wheelchair-bound man, who won his motorcycle accident claim for paralysing crash injuries, was pursued by police after he was spotted travelling at 70mph in a 30mph zone.

Eventually, after the man succeeded in evading a police car, a helicopter was called in and tracked him down outside a residential address.

On sentencing him to six months imprisonment, a judge at Ipswich Crown Court noted the man's five previous convictions for driving while disqualified.

"Your disabled condition hasn't prevented you from reoffending. This was prolonged bad driving over five and a half miles. Some of it was cross country and some in built up areas," he said.

In mitigation, the man's solicitor said that his client using the proceeds of his motorcycle accident claim to bur a powerful car "was one of the ways he has tried to compensate for what happened
[his severe spinal injury]." 

The case has sparked outrage from some members of the local community, with some describing the sentence as too lenient.