Driver convicted of child neglect after 100mph M40 crash
But the 37-year-old won't face any immediate jail time
Last updated 17th Apr 2024
A West Sussex man involved in a crash on the M40, while his child was in the car with him, has avoided a jail sentence for dangerous driving and child neglect.
Miley Connor drove his SUV at speeds of more than 100mph while speeding in and out of traffic on the motorway in Warwickshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire on December 29th, 2021.
Police tried to catch up with the car after it went down the hard shoulder of the southbound carriageway at around 4.10pm that day.
The car then hit the central reservation on the Shabbington bend between junctions nine and 8A, causing it to spin and lose a tyre.
Fortunately, the car did not hit any other vehicles but the driver, Connors, continued driving to the overbridge near Worminghall, where he got out and started urinating.
A child then got out of the car and ran away up by the embankment.
Officers searched for Connors and the child, with support from the National Police Air Service, and they soon found them nearby. Officers arrested Connors and safeguarded the child.
Connors was charged the following day.
The 37-year-old, of Scant Road East in Hambrook near Chichester, was sentenced to two years in jail, suspended for two years, at Oxford Crown Court on Friday (April 12th).
The judge also disqualified Connors from driving for two years and he will need to pass an extended retest to get his licence back.
He was also ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work, 120 days of alcohol monitoring, and an accredited thinking skills programme within 20 days, as well as paying £3,000 in a fine and costs.
Investigating officer PC Amy Boughton, of the Thames Valley Police Joint Operations Roads Policing Unit, said:
"This was one of the worse pieces of driving I have ever seen.
"Not only is it shocking to watch, it’s gut-wrenching to know there was a young child in that vehicle, scared and crying.
"The child was found wet, muddy and cold, and stood over Miley Connors, who was throwing up and incapable of looking after them.
"I can only hope that Connors take this second chance and makes recompense for the lives he could have so easily taken because of his reckless actions."