Drug driver 'lucky to be alive' after Scarborough crash is jailed

A driver who had to be cut out of his car and airlifted to hospital, after he crashed it into a tree in North Yorkshire while high on drugs, has been jailed.
By Nathan Hyde
Published 11th Apr 2022, 17:52 BST
Updated 11th Apr 2022, 17:54 BST
Paul Westoby's crumpled black Volvo C30 R-Design T5 was found on Lady Edith’s Drive in Scarborough at around 5.45pm on Thursday, April 25 last year.Paul Westoby's crumpled black Volvo C30 R-Design T5 was found on Lady Edith’s Drive in Scarborough at around 5.45pm on Thursday, April 25 last year.
Paul Westoby's crumpled black Volvo C30 R-Design T5 was found on Lady Edith’s Drive in Scarborough at around 5.45pm on Thursday, April 25 last year.

Paul Westoby, 29, was sentenced to six months imprisonment and disqualified from driving for three years at York Crown Court today, after he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and drug driving.

Westoby's crumpled black Volvo C30 R-Design T5 was found on Lady Edith’s Drive in Scarborough at around 5.45pm on Thursday, April 25 last year.

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North Yorkshire Police said he ploughed the car into a tree and it then bounced off and hit a lamppost. He was cut out of the vehicle by firefighters and then airlifted to hospital with serious spinal injuries.

Paul Westoby, 29, was sentenced to six months imprisonment and disqualified from driving for three years at York Crown Court todayPaul Westoby, 29, was sentenced to six months imprisonment and disqualified from driving for three years at York Crown Court today
Paul Westoby, 29, was sentenced to six months imprisonment and disqualified from driving for three years at York Crown Court today

Witnesses said Westoby, of Langley Drive in Norton, had been driving erratically and overtaking other vehicles at high speed, before the collision on the road, where a 30mph speed limit is in place.

A blood sample taken in hospital found there were 3.2 microgrammes of cannabis in a litre of his blood - the legal limit is 2 microgrammes.

Traffic Constable Mark Patterson, of North Yorkshire Police, said Westoby was “lucky to be alive and even luckier that he did not harm anyone else”.

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“Westoby was already under investigation for the same offence at the time of the crash after he was stopped by the police in Norton on December 30, 2020.

“On that occasion, he was double the limit for cannabis. He pleaded guilty and was given a 12-month driving ban when he was eventually sentenced in December last year.”

He added: “Taking his previous drug driving incident into consideration, Westoby was blatantly in breach of the law on the day of this very serious collision.

“It could so easily have ended his own life or tragically taken the lives of other motorists or pedestrians.

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“I welcome the firm stance taken by the court with the custodial sentence, and it is pleasing that Westoby has been disqualified from driving for three years with a three-month extension.

“We simply will not tolerate this type of behaviour on our roads, and we will continue to do everything in our power to bring such offenders to justice and make our roads safer for everyone.”