Man guilty after car hit Doncaster house and burst into flames
A Doncaster man who left four people inside a burning car after it hit a house in Branton has been found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.
A Doncaster man who left four people inside a burning car after it hit a house in Branton has been found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.
James 'Jimmy' Maughan, 22, was driving the black Renault Megane when hit a house on Poppyfields Way and burst into flames.
Dean McIntrye, 27, and Liam Aldred, 26, died in the crash on 25 August 2015.
Despite being seriously burnt, Maughan ran away,
leaving the four passengers to burn.
Liam and Dean were found dead inside the car, while two other males aged 16 and 21 suffered burns.
A jury at Sheffield Crown Court heard Maughan had been driving down Doncaster Road at 70mph in a 30 zone.
He was in convoy with a Volkswagen Passat, and both cars were seen om CCTV dangerously overtaking a car towing a caravan.
The Passat collided with the Megane which hit a kerb and lost control, colliding with a garden wall and coming to rest on its roof.
Maughan, of Marshland Road, fled to Swansea and admitted himself to a hospital under a false name, saying his burns were caused at a family barbeque.
He was arrested in hospital two days later. Following a trial, a jury found him guilty of two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, and one count of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
He's due to be sentenced on 24 March.
Temporary Inspector Steve Askham, from the Serious Collisions Unit, said: “Maughan had absolutely no regard for other drivers, pedestrians or those inside the car with him when he drove so dangerously on the day of the crash.
“He showed further disregard when he left his friends inside the car to burn. Despite conscious efforts to evade justice, South Yorkshire Police, in partnership with South Wales police and members of the community, has ensured Maughan is held to account for his actions.
“Maughan has never shown any remorse for what he did and, despite threats of extreme violence towards our police officers, we prosecuted him without fear or favour.
“The victims’ families finally have answers about what happened. No prison sentence can bring Liam and Dean back or undo the pain their families have been through, but I hope this will give them at least some comfort to allow them to begin to heal after so tragically losing two people who were dearly loved.”