Leeds burglars caused horror injuries in getaway crash

Christopher Canavan and Thomas Newsome, both 19, were locked up after a court heard how the victim has been left in a wheelchair and lives in constant pain crash The teenagers were fleeing in a stolen Ford Focus when a member of the public called police after spotting them in a supermarket car park with a cash-filled safe and a handgun stolen during a house burglary.

Leeds Crown Court heard police had to abandon the chase because Newsome’s driving was so dangerous. He drove at double the speed limit on the wrong side of a dual carriageway and on roundabouts.

The Focus smashed head-on into a VW Polo which a mother and daughter were travelling in.

Christopher Moran, prosecuting, said the mother is unlikely to recover from the spinal injuries. She also suffering fractures to her arms, legs, ribs and feet.

The daughter suffered rib and wrist fractures and an eye injury caused by shattered glass. She has had to give up her job to look after her mother who now needs 24-hour care.

Newsome, of Torre Road, Burmantofts, Leeds, was sent to a young offenders institution for five years, four months, after pleading guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, conspiracy to commit burglary and theft.

Canavan, of Scargill Grange, Burmantofts, was sentenced to three years, ten months, after pleading guilty to being carried as a passenger in a stolen vehicle where injury was caused, conspiracy to commit burglary and theft.

The two men were responsible for house burglaries in the Oakwood and Gipton areas. They both have long records for burglary and car crime offences

Judge Geoffrey Mason, QC, said the consequences of their actions had been “devastating” for the two victims.

He said: “This is almost as bad a piece of dangerous driving as is possible to imagine.

“In my judgement Newsome, you made a deliberate decision to ignore the rules of the road and you had a complete disregard of the great danger to other road users.

“You Canavan, had one thing at the forefront of your mind and one thing only - to evade arrest.

“It is a miracle that someone was not killed.”