Driver admits dangerous driving after crashing stolen car off flyover onto A1 below

A driver has admitted dangerous driving after crashing a stolen car from a flyover onto the motorway below.

Hugh Raymond Holmes has been warned he is facing “a significant custodial sentence” following the crash which brought traffic to a standstill on the A1 in County Durham on Friday 21 January.

The road was closed for most of the day when a red Vauxhall Astra ploughed through the safety barriers of the flyover at Bowburn Interchange and landed on its roof in the central reservation of the A1 below.

The female passenger had to be cut free from the vehicle.

Holmes who had taken the car around 90-minutes earlier was involved in a collision with another vehicle on the A177 flyover before crashing through the barriers.

At a hearing, the 32-year-old from Spennymoor pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, plus failing to provide a breath specimen and driving without insurance.

Police confirmed a woman in her mid-40s suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to hospital where she was initially in a critical condition.

The court heard she is now left using a wheelchair, but Recorder Ata Dallas said a full updated medical report on the victim’s prognosis should be presented to the sentencing hearing, next month.

Robin Patton, prosecuting, told the court: “I think she’s grateful to be alive.”

Addressing Holmes, Recorder Dallas said: “Your guilty pleas today will result in appropriate credit being given to you when you come to be sentenced.

“That can’t be today because further evidence needs to be assembled before that hearing.

“Your sentence will be on 23 March and, in the meantime, you will remain remanded in custody.

“You will have been advised, and you must be aware, that a significant custodial sentence will follow.”