Driver jailed over head-on collision

James Ramsden, 25, was already banned from the roads when he put dozens of lives at risk, speeding through oncoming traffic in a stolen car before smashing into another vehicle seriously injuring its driver.

Officers said it was “a miracle” nobody was killed and that they were shocked by Ramsden’s lack of remorse.

But the Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, could jail him for only a fraction of the time had someone died, saying his hands were “very much tied” by sentencing guidelines.

Unless dangerous driving results in a death, the maximum sentence is two years.

Ramsden, of Liversedge, West Yorkshire, was given credit for pleading guilty to car theft, dangerous driving and driving while banned and without insurance and was jailed for two years and nine months for the offences.

Judge Ashurst also banned Ramsden from driving for seven years.

Dozens of road users were put in danger by Ramsden’s high-speed drive on July 19 on the A64, York’s outer ring road, which ended when he smashed head-on into a Toyota, York Crown Court heard.

Graham Bell, the Toyota driver, from York, spent 11 days in hospital and he has yet to return to work.

Ramsden had gone the wrong way through the one-way system at York Designer Outlet before reaching 109mph as he drove west on the eastbound carriageway of the A64.

Police tracked him from the opposite carriageway but Ramsden made V-signs at them before crashing.

For Ramsden, Graham Parkin, said his only mitigation was his guilty plea. “The most shocking thing is his complete lack of remorse.”

Speaking after the hearing, Detective Constable Alan Williams said: “It was just a miracle no one died.”