[A] driver who careered off the road and into a family’s front room has today been jailed for five years.
James Andrew Sparham, 29, was driving a high-performance Volkswagen Golf R which burst into flames after smashing into the house in Rawcliffe, York.
One of the residents, a man in his 50s, suffered serious life-changing injuries and had to endure a long stay in hospital.
Sparham’s two passengers – a woman in her 30s and a man in his 20s – also sustained broken bones, lacerations and fractures.
The labourer, of Geldof Road, Huntington, York, was sent to prison by a judge at York Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to causing serious injury x3 by dangerous driving and criminal damage.
He was also banned from driving for seven-and-a-half years and will have to sit an extended driving test before he is allowed back on the roads.
The incident took place on Morehall Close in the early hours of September 3 last year.
Police, firefighters and ambulance crews arrived to find a hole in the house and Sparham’s Golf ablaze in the living room, next to the sofa.
The three occupants, including a child, in the house at the time managed to escape with help of neighbours and local residents.
Witnesses later told police they heard “screeching” and saw a while Volkswagen being driven in a “dangerous” manner immediately before the crash.
North Yorkshire Police’s Major Collision Investigation Team launched an investigation and carried out extensive forensic tests to determine what had happened.
Experts were unable to find any evidence that Sparham had tried to avoid a collision or any defects with the vehicle.
They also recreated the incident in a controlled environment, using a similar car, and determined that even with the steering at full lock, the car should not have lost control.
During police interviews, Sparham largely made no comment. However, he pleaded guilty to three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and criminal damage at court.
After today’s hearing, Detective Sergeant Jeremy Bartley of the Major Collision Investigation Team, who led the investigation, said: “The choices Sparham made that night have had a catastrophic impact on innocent people.
“The damage he did was not just to a family’s home, but also to their health and their wellbeing – damage which continues to this day. Lives have been changed forever.
“The sad thing is, our investigation has shown that this incident was absolutely avoidable. It didn’t have to happen. It was an act of stupidity that had dire consequences.
“The advanced techniques we used to investigate cases such as this allow us to piece together an incredibly detailed picture of what happened, and why it happened. So even without the driver’s full co-operation, we’re able to build a case that is strong enough to convict people of serious driving offences.
“This was a long and complex investigation, so I’m relieved that Sparham is not only off our roads, but also has plenty of time to reflect on his actions while serving his custodial sentence.”
“I would like to thank the local and wider community for answering our witness appeals and providing a valuable picture of the events leading up to the incident.”
David and Claire Garnett say that their family’s lives have been devastated by the appalling event which occurred in the early hours of Sunday September 3, 2017.
On that morning at 1.25 am their youngest son was in bed and David and Claire Garnett were relaxing in the lounge watching TV.
Seconds after Claire had got up to go into the kitchen there was what David has described as ‘the sound of a bomb going off’.
David was buried under debris and rubble trapped by it and the car.
Claire had been in the adjacent kitchen at the time and turned to her horror to see a car had blasted through the side wall of their home and was in the middle of the lounge with her husband David buried under rubble on the sofa at the far side of the car.
Claire climbed over the burning car and cleared rubble off David then climbed back over it having to carry and pull David over the burning car all the while terrified it would explode.
Claire fortunately rescued David to the rear of their home whilst the car set alight in their lounge setting fire to the house and its contents all of which have been lost.
As a result of the incident David sustained multiple injuries including loss of vision in his right eye, extreme lower limb injuries requiring extensive skin grafts, a broken nose and numerous soft tissue lacerations and injuries.
David required a six-week period of hospitalisation at the Leeds Major Trauma unit and York Hospital and a gruelling period of treatment thereafter which is ongoing. David is going to be left with life- long injuries as a result of this criminal incident. Claire has suffered back and neck injuries as well as extensive soft tissue trauma and both have suffered severe Post Traumatic Stress.
David and Claire have said: “The one place anyone should always be able to feel safe is within the four walls of your own home.”
They were both enjoying life to the full looking forward to the future. This devastating incident has brought serious injury, hardship, uncertainty, anxiety and depression. Their lives have been shattered.
The family wishes to thank North Yorkshire Police, ambulance and fire department for their prompt response and also to family, neighbours, friends and the community for their tremendous support. Thanks extend to the medical professionals both in Leeds and York hospitals and to York school and college for support to their children.
