James Celaire: Yorkshire junior doctor jailed after driving into women and children on zebra crossing on his way home from 12-hour shift

James Celaire, 25, had just finished an 8pm-8am shift at Bradford Royal Infirmary and rather than rest in staff accommodation at the hospital, decided to drive home to his new apartment in Leeds city centre in his Suzuki Swift.

Witnesses described seeing him pull out to overtake a line of traffic and drive straight onto the crossing without braking or swerving.

He struck a mother and her two sons, aged six and four, as they waited to cross Hudson Avenue on their way to school, and also ploughed into another woman who had just dropped off her own daughter, flinging her against a tree. The first woman had to have a leg amputated and the other three victims all suffered serious fractures after the collision in December 2020. Celaire’s car came to a stop after striking a lamp-post.

Bradford Crown Court heard that the most severely injured victim and her children had not even stepped onto the zebra crossing because she had already seen the Swift approaching whils trying to beat the queue of traffic, and he struck the family before they had begun to cross the road.

Celaire spoke to police officers at the scene and offered medical assistance to the victims. He told them he ‘shouldn’t have driven’ and had felt tired at the end of his 12-hour shift.

At a later police interview, he said he was unfamiliar with the road as it was the first time he had driven the route, and had been anticipating a turn. There was a sign 61 metres from the crossing warning of the presence of pedestrians and a school.

Celaire eventually pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He grew up in Clayton and was privately educated at Bradford Grammar School, where he was 1st XI cricket captain before leaving in 2015 to take up a place at the University of Birmingham to study medicine.

A victim impact statement was read out on behalf of the first mother, who has had to give up her job in retail and ambition to train as a teacher after the loss of her leg. Her husband has also stopped training to be a HGV driver to become her carer. She told the court that the accident had changed her life forever and left her unable to take her children to the park. She now rarely leaves the house and feels unable to expand her family as she had planned to. Her sons were left scared to cross the road.

The second woman, who has a son and three daughters, was also left housebound by her injuries and her husband had to become the main carer for the family.

Celaire’s defence counsel said her client had only been qualified as a doctor for around six months at the time of the collision, and was working in a role which involved responding to emergencies on various wards. He was ‘deeply horrified’ by what happened and wrote an apology letter to the court.

She added: “He accepts he was more tired than he appreciated at the time. He failed to appreciate the effect the night shifts would have on him and his ability to drive. There is no real explanation for what happened, and it is likely he fell asleep for a brief period. He is otherwise a man of exemplary character who continued to work full-time after this happened. This was a tragic error of judgement.”

Sentencing Celaire to 28 months in prison and imposing a three-year driving ban, Judge Jonathan Rose said: “I accept your remorse is entirely genuine, but these are very grave offences. There was no reason for your manoeuvre and no attempt to slow down. You were aware that you should not have driven, and the injuries caused were catastrophic. I am mindful of your exemplary character, and you are unlikely to offend again.

"You decided to drive home rather than rest, and you ought to have been aware that your faculties were reduced. You made a deliberate decision to drive when it was not safe to do so.”