Manchester woman sentenced to 20 months for crash while taking laughing gas

A 21 year old woman from Manchester has been sentenced to 20 months imprisonment for causing serious injury by dangerous driving to two passengers following a collision on Manchester Road, Carrington in March.

She was also disqualified from driving for 2 years and 10 months and must take an extended re-test.

Jordanna Best drove a Ford Ka with an inflated balloon in her mouth on the wrong side of the road on a blind bend when she collided head on with a van. The van driver received cuts and bruises, one of her passengers received a fractured vertebra and injuries to her liver and the other passenger received broken ribs.

David Graham, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West said: “Jordanna Best has today been sentenced for causing serious and life threatening injuries to her two passengers due to driving her car dangerously.

“She took a series of risks that night, putting other road users as well as her passengers at serious risk of harm with disastrous consequences. She has accepted driving her car whilst inhaling nitrous oxide; not only would this have affected her ability to drive safely, it meant she had to drive with only one hand on the steering wheel, whilst the balloon she inhaled from would also have obscured her view through the windscreen. She overtook another car before drifting again over the solid white lines into the path of oncoming traffic, whilst on a blind bend. The van driver she collided with did not stand a chance of avoiding the collision.

“As a direct result of her reckless actions, her two passengers were serious injured, the van driver was injured, plus she also received fractured ribs and a collapsed lung. Her actions alone were responsible for this serious collision that risked the lives of those involved.

“This case serves as an example of the consequences of dangerous driving. The CPS and Police are dedicated to bringing to justice those who do not drive safely on our roads.":

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