UK prison officer convicted over road crash

In the UK, a 30-year-old prison officer, Jack Bentley, has been sentenced to two years and four months in prison for causing a road traffic collision while playing an online casino game on his phone at the wheel, which led to a pregnant woman in the affected vehicle going into premature labour.

Crash while playing an online casino game

The accident occurred on the A50 near Stoke-on-Trent, when Bentley was driving a Ford Focus and playing an online casino during the journey.

Witnesses and dashcam footage recorded the driver changing lanes repeatedly, veering onto the verge, and failing to respond to traffic conditions.

Collision with stationary traffic

Bentley crashed into a stationary Nissan X-Trail, which was pushed into another vehicle by the impact.

A pregnant passenger was inside the car and went into premature labour following the collision.

Impact on the victims

The pregnant woman suffered a fractured pelvis and was rushed to hospital, where doctors carried out an emergency caesarean section.

The baby was born prematurely and spent several weeks in intensive care before surviving.

Two children were also in the vehicle and sustained injuries, while the family dog was seriously hurt and required emergency surgery.

Driver’s phone data analysis

Analysis of the mobile phone data confirmed that Bentley spent most of the journey accessing online gambling websites, report law enforcement authorities.

The check was carried out after the driver was detained at the scene.

Court proceedings and sentence

Bentley admitted guilt to two counts of causing serious injury as a result of dangerous driving.

The court imposed a custodial sentence of two years and four months.

Additional penalties

In addition to the prison term, the court banned Bentley from driving for three years and two months.

Police stated that the cause of the crash was the use of a mobile phone while driving and playing online casino games during the journey.