The worst Leicestershire drivers who were jailed in 2025
The crown and magistrates courts[1] in Leicester regularly deal with dangerous, drunk or careless drivers whose actions have tragic consequences.
Below are some of the cases we've covered in the past 12 months. From incidents in all parts of the city and the wider county too, many bad and dangerous drivers are now behind bars.
Jonathan Knight
Jonathan Knight
A "pathetic" man high on cocaine drove his Audi into a cyclist, fatally injuring him[2], before driving to his mum's house in the "undrivable" car with a shattered windscreen. Jonathan Knight, who was six times the legal limit for cocaine, later set the vehicle on fire in a bid to destroy the evidence
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The crash happened in Loughborough at about 8pm on Friday, July 7, 2023, when Knight, 31, was driving along Ling Road in the town. He had no driving licence, having previously lost it for drink-driving.
Knight, who was high on drugs and going above the speed limit, collided with 47-year-old Tony Smith who had been crossing Ling Road at a designated cycle crossing. The crash sent Mr Smith and his bike flying through the air, before landing in the middle of the road.
He died from a severe head injury suffered in the impact.
When he was tested for drugs 15 hours after the crash, Knight's blood still contained six times the legal limit of cocaine. At the time of the incident, he was also under investigation for drug dealing. Advertisement
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Knight was charged by Leicestershire Police[3] with causing death by driving while unlicensed and uninsured, dangerous driving and perverting the course of justice.
Knight pleaded not guilty to all the charges but was found guilty by a jury.
Knight was jailed for 14 years[4] and was banned from driving for 13 years and eight months.
Haron James
Haron James
A Leicester man[6] who crashed while on his way home from London has been jailed for the serious injuries caused to one of his passengers. Haron James, 22, was driving along the A14[7] in Northamptonshire in the early hours of Monday, November 4, after he had worked a 13-hour shift when the crash happened. Advertisement
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As well as two passengers in the front of the Mercedes Sprinter, James, of Stokes Drive, New Parks[8], Leicester, illegally had one other passenger sitting in the back of the van without a seat or any way to strap himself in.
James, who later said he had consumed a Red Bull before setting off and felt fine to drive, fell asleep at the wheel while he had cruise control on and the vehicle crashed off the A14, over a grass verge and into the barrier, sending the passenger in the rear crashing into the side of the van and suffering serious injuries to his head and neck.
James was jailed for 26 months[9].
Ryan Skelton
Ryan Skelton -Credit:Leicestershire Police
A driver hit two pedestrians, killing one, while trying to evade police[11]. Ryan Skelton is said to have displayed "no regard for the safety of others" while trying to escape from officers. Advertisement
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Skelton was behind the wheel of a Volkswagen Jetta on Thursday, September 12 2024, when police [12]were contacted by a member of the public who was "concerned" about his driving.
When officers arrived and approached Skelton's vehicle, he tried to make off from the area of Oronsay Road in Beaumont Leys[13].
However, he almost immediately collided with a metal fence before "making off at speed", mounting the kerb and hitting Anthony Haynes and his carer Rachael Newton who were further along the road. Both were taken to hospital, with 66-year-old Mr Haynes dying as a result of his injuries on Monday, September 23.
Ms Newton, who is 56, suffered life-changing injuries[14]. Skelton, of Round House Close in Bagworth, pleaded guilty to one count of causing death by dangerous driving and one count of causing serious injury by dangerous driving[15] and was jailed for eight years and eight months.
He was also disqualified from driving for 11 years.
Cory Heritage
Cory Heritage
Cory Heritage was jailed for killing his uncle in a car crash[17]. Heritage had been drinking and smoking cannabis before driving his 48-year-old uncle home. Advertisement
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He lost control of his car in Barlestone Road, Bagworth, near Coalville[18].
The vehicle flipped over and hit a tree.
Heritage, 24, was relatively unhurt and able to pull his uncle, Jason Farmer, out of the vehicle. But Mr Farmer died at the scene.
When Leicestershire Police[19] arrived, Heritage lied and told them that his uncle had been behind the wheel. The crash happened on Monday, January 22, last year, and after months of lying to his family and the police, it was only in August this year that he pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving.
He was jailed for two years and three months.
The court heard no charges of drink-driving or drug-driving had been brought by the Crown Prosecution Service because paperwork was filled in wrongly by medics who took blood samples from Heritage after the crash.
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Heritage, of Westbury Road, Nuneaton, had 41 previous convictions, including three for driving while disqualified, one for drink-driving, and another for failing to provide a specimen when suspected of driving under the influence.
Heritage will spend about half the 27-month sentence behind bars[20] and after his release will be banned from driving for four years, after which he will have to take an extended retest.
Liam Rennie
A mum of three children is "living a nightmare" and in constant fear of dying due to injuries caused by a drink driver.
Despite being uninsured and banned from driving, Liam Rennie, 35, was acting as a chauffeur for a friend who was on a first date with the woman. All three were in an Audi RS3 when Rennie lost control and smashed into vehicles at the side of the road. Advertisement
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The owner of the damaged vehicles was woken at 1am by an "almighty sound" as Rennie crashed into his VW T-Roc, ramming it into his Ford Transit van and shunting the van several metres.
The VW ploughed through the man's garden wall, leaving his front garden "completely demolished".
The Audi's engine block came out of the car and burst into flames.
While Rennie and his friend, who were in the front of the Audi, suffered only cuts and lacerations, the woman's internal organs were badly damaged, her breastbone was shattered, and three bones in her spine were also shattered.
She had to be cut free from the car by firefighters and was airlifted to University Hospital in Coventry, where she underwent procedures for her various injuries. Advertisement Advertisement
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Rennie was jailed for 32 months after Judge Timothy Spencer KC was told of his previous convictions, which included drink-driving in 2021, which led to a 14-month disqualification, and convictions last year for careless driving, failing to report an accident and having no insurance, which led to a six-month ban.
He was still subject to that ban when he was involved in the latest crash, which happened in Station Road, Stoney Stanton, near Hinckley[22], in the early hours of Sunday, May 4.
Rennie, of Victoria Road, Whetstone[23], had pleaded guilty to causing serious injury while driving while disqualified, as well as driving without insurance.
In addition to being jailed for 32 months, Rennie was disqualified from driving for 40 months, after which he will be required to undergo an extended retest before he can drive again. Advertisement
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Simarjeet Singh
Simarjeet Singh, who killed a couple after losing control of his car, had been stopped three months earlier by Leicestershire Police[25] because he was driving so badly.
Singh, 35, who had never passed his driving test, was illegally driving alone from Leicester to Uppingham to go to work when he drifted to the left, onto a grass verge, over-corrected to the right and swung into the oncoming traffic, hitting the Hyundai of Gail and Ian Gale, who had been coming in the opposite direction.
Singh, regarding what happened as an "accident", pleaded not guilty to two counts of causing death by careless driving, but was found guilty by a jury following a trial.
During a sentencing hearing, at Leicester Crown Court[26], the deceased couple's daughter, Emma Johnson, told the judge about the impact of the tragedy, which happened the day she had gone to hospital to give birth[27]. Advertisement Advertisement
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Medics made the decision not to tell Ms Johnson that her parents were dead due to the stress it could cause the baby. When she was sent home later without giving birth, she was told by her partner about the fatal crash.
She was then required to identify her parents' bodies.
Ms Johnson said Singh's actions were "selfish and disgusting", with the long wait for the trial - after he pleaded not guilty - adding to her distress.
The previous stop by the police happened three months before the fatal crash, which happened on Friday, November 18, 2022, near Uppingham. The officers in the earlier incident had seen Singh driving badly in Leicester and were so concerned they pulled him over. They discovered he only had a provisional driving licence and he was given a fine.
During the trial, the jury had heard that Singh, 35, of Dishley Lane, Belgrave[28], Leicester, had no explanation for why he had lost control of his car.
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Singh was jailed for four years, and banned from driving for four years.
Edward Seabrook
A teenage Leicestershire driver going too fast around a blind bend smashed into a cyclist coming in the opposite way. Edward Seabrook had only passed his driving test 12 weeks before the collision, which left cyclist Peter Taylor with life-threatening injuries.
Mr Taylor, 66, was cycling along a narrow road at Saddington Reservoir, near Kibworth, with his wife cycling behind him when he was struck head-on by a black Volkswagen Polo being driven by Seabrook. Mr Taylor's wife feared he was dead after seeing her husband flying through the air and landing on the ground.
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During a hearing at Leicester Magistrates' Court[30] Seabrook, 19, turned around to apologise to Mr Taylor, who sat in the public gallery, telling him: "I'm so sorry for everything. I'm so sorry."
Seabrook, who had only turned 18 the day before the crash in October 2023, had been on his way to a football match when the collision happened.
Seabrook, of Springfield Crescent, Kibworth Beauchamp, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate driving. He was given a 12-month community order that will include 180 hours of unpaid work.
Seabrook was ordered to pay ?85 court costs and a ?114 victim surcharge.
He was banned from driving for 12 months and will have to take an extended retest before he can drive unsupervised and without L-plates.
Sarah Clarke
A motorcyclist was left with a broken collarbone[32] after he was hit by a Tesla car. The vehicle driven by Sarah Clarke came with collision avoidance systems, but these failed to activate after she did not spot the bike.
The incident happened on Thursday, April 10 in Loughborough[33] when Clarke had been pulling out into Royland Road from the Browns Lane junction. The 57-year-old had not seen the motorcyclist as she pulled out, but her Tesla, fitted with collision avoidance systems, should have kicked in and prevented the collision, but didn't.
The resulting impact knocked the rider off his bike, leaving him with a broken collarbone and bruising to his shoulder, chest and leg.
The maximum sentence for causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate driving[34] is 26 weeks in prison.
Clarke, of Far Lane, Normanton on Soar, near Loughborough, had no previous convictions and had never had her licence endorsed in 41 years of driving.
Clarke, who pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate driving, was banned from driving for 12 months and ordered her to pay a ?369 fine, ?85 court costs and a ?148 victim surcharge[35].
Gurwinder Singh
Singh was jailed at Leicester Crown Court -Credit:Leicestershire Police
Gurwinder Singh, of Gwendolen Road, Leicester, was jailed after driving into a group of people in De Montfort Street, in the city centre, in the early hours of Saturday, May 31.
Leicestershire Police[37] were called at 12.34am on the Saturday morning to the report of the collision[38]. There were a number of people injured - some from the collision, and some, it was reported, from a fight that took place in the moments leading up to the incident.
According to the force, when officers arrived, the car had already left the scene[39], leaving four men and one woman injured and hundreds of people who were at the same private event as the defendant in a state of panic.
The car was found in nearby Margaret Street hours later, and footage recovered subsequently showed the defendant removing the number plates in an attempt to evade capture.
Singh was arrested when he handed himself in at Keyham Lane police station.
The 28-year-old pleaded guilty to three counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent[40] at Leicester Crown Court[41]. He was sentenced to a total of seven years and six months in prison and has been disqualified from driving for 12 years.
Kerry Marsh
A single mum on the school run failed to see an 82-year-old pensioner crossing the road and hit him, causing fatal injuries. Leicester Crown Court[43] heard there was no explanation for why Kerry Marsh, 37, failed to properly look where she was going for about five seconds.
The mum-of-two had been driving her Audi A3 with her 11-year-old daughter in the car when she hit retired University of Leicester[44] horticulturalist Graham Benskin, who had been crossing Wigston Road in Oadby[45].
She had been smoking cannabis the day before - but was not over the limit - and her car was a month late for its MOT.
After the collision, at about 8.15am on Monday, November 6, 2023[46], Mr Benskin was rushed to hospital and he passed away on Sunday, November 26.[47] Marsh, of Chapel Street, Oadby, was charged with causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving, which she admitted.
Sentencing judge, William Harbage KC, said Marsh, who was going at 29mph, must have travelled about 75 yards without paying attention.
Judge Harbage told Marsh: "These are extremely difficult and sensitive sentencing exercises in cases like this. Mr Benskin's family have lost a father, a grandfather and a friend.
"It is tragic that a much-loved man of 82 loses his life in these circumstances. No sentence I pass will bring him back or alleviate the family's sense of loss and grief.
"The situation is aggravated by the fact that Mr Benskin was a vulnerable road user - he was a pedestrian and he was 82 years of age.
It was also aggravated by the fact that your daughter was in the car."
He told Marsh he would not jail her immediately because of her children and her lack of previous convictions. She was given a nine-month sentence, suspended for two years, with a curfew banning her from leaving her home between 8pm and 6am for the next three months.
She will also have to spend 20 days on programmes recommended by the Probation Service, and she was banned from driving for 18 months. Before she gets her licence back, she must retake an extended driving test.
James Barber
A "foolish" BMW driver who had been drinking left a cyclist with multiple broken bones[49] following a head-on collision that was captured on camera.
James Barber said he had consumed two pints at a work event before the crash happened.
The collision took place in Pithouse Lane, West Leake, near Loughboroug[50] h, at around 5.30pm on Friday, March 22, 2024. CCTV footage played at Nottingham Crown Court[51] showed Barber's BMW Sport career into the bike, sending the rider flying over the bonnet and onto the road.
Dashcam footage captured by a driver who was following 35-year-old Barber filmed him swerving across the middle line[52] before the collision took place. The father-of-two, who was injured, said his wife had to give him water through a straw, shave and shower him following the incident.
In a victim impact statement read to the court[53], the cyclist told how he is a keen rider who has been using that route to and from work since 2016.
He said he spent 13 days in hospital having suffered a broken back and other bones, and he underwent surgery to have a disc removed from his back and replaced.
Barber, of Leveret Way, East Leake, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving[54]. He was given a 22-month jail term, suspended for two years and was disqualified from driving for three years[55].
Patrick Connors
Patrick Connors -Credit:Daily Post Wales
A wanted man reached speeds of 160mph during a "highly dangerous" police chase through Leicestershire[57]. Patrick Connors was reportedly on the run[58] for years before his arrest.
Connors, also known as William Ward, was spotted in a BMW in Leicestershire[59] in February 2025.
Police attempted to stop the vehicle, but the 45-year-old drove away and reached speeds of between 130mph and 160mph on both the M1 and M69[60] motorways, undertaking vehicles and speeding on the hard shoulder.
During the pursuit, he also reportedly threw a "white powder" from his vehicle. Connors abandoned the car and ran off, but initially gave police false details upon his arrest.
Following his arrest, it emerged that Connors had previously failed to appear in court[61], charged with receiving ?21,000 from a rogue trader scam. The 45-year-old, of Riverside Caravan Park, Queensferry, appeared before Mold Crown Court after admitting acquiring criminal property, dangerous driving and driving while disqualified[62].
Connors was sentenced to three years in prison.
Luke Gittings
A driver who missed his junction pulled into a layby to turn around and then drove out in the path of a motorbike.
The biker was thrown over the bonnet of Luke Gittings's Ford Fiesta, and landed on the road.
Gittings, who had been on his way to play in a football match, got out of the car and rushed up and told the biker, "I'm sorry, I didn't see you," before asking the biker if he was alright. The biker replied: "No, obviously not. Can you call an ambulance."
At Leicester Magistrates' Court[64] Gittings pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate driving[65].
The incident happened in Leicester Road, Earl Shilton, near Hinckley[66], in July 2024.
The victim suffered a fractured hip, a fractured pelvis and a break to his left forearm. After the crash he underwent surgery on his hip and wrist and was in hospital for about two weeks.
Afterwards he had to move into his partner's parents' home because he was unable to care for himself. In his statement, the victim described feeling anxious about his hospital operation and fearful he would never get to ride a bike again.
The victim said: "This has been difficult for me as I love biking and take great enjoyment from it." He said that recently - nearly a year on from the crash - he had finally been on a motorbike again but had struggled with wrist pain.
Gittings, of Cadle Street, Newbold Verdon, near Market Bosworth, was banned from driving for 12 months and given a 12-month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work.
He will also have to pay ?85 court costs and a ?114 victim surcharge.
Abdul Kolia
A female motorcyclist suffered "catastrophic" injuries[68] in a crash caused by a driver pulling out in front of her to perform a U-turn. The victim, a married mum-of-three, suffered an array of injuries in the crash at Kilby Bridge, near Leicester, in August 2023.
The collision happened because Abdul Kolia had pulled into the road in his Toyota Auris to perform a "highly dangerous" U-turn on Welford Road to head back towards Wigston[69]. The woman, who had previously taught Highland dancing, had been coming towards Kolia over the humpbacked bridge.
By the time she saw the Auris in the middle of the road, she had no time to stop.
She hit Kolia's car and was sent flying into the air, landing on the ground and suffering broken bones in her legs, wrist, hand and several broken ribs.
Kolia, who worked as a carer for people with severe injuries, had been "running late" when he performed the U-turn.
The 38-year-old pleaded not guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving but was found guilty by magistrates[70].
Judge William Harbage KC, sentencing Kolia, said the injuries were "catastrophic" and that Kolia was making an "obviously highly-dangerous manoeuvre" by doing a U-turn near to the humpback bridge and crossing the solid white line in the centre of the road.
Kolia, of Farnham Street, Spinney Hills[71], Leicester, was jailed for three years and banned from driving for at least eight-and-a-half years[72].
A requirement he must take an extended re-test before he can drive again was also imposed.
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