Drunk driver who ploughed into mother and daughter gives middle finger after walking free from court

This was the reaction of a drunk driver who walked free from court despite leaving a mother and daughter with devastating injuries after hitting them head-on in a horror crash.

Scott Roe, 39, ploughed into another car in his Mercedes CLA220 after he "got bored" of following a car that was sticking to the 30mph speed limit in July last year.

He walked away unhurt from the crash but left 39-year-old Kelly Merridew her daughter Chelsea Sidwell, 19, seriously injured.

The mother and daughter were trapped in the wreckage of the crash in Bedworth, Warwickshire, for two hours while emergency crews tried to free them.

Sidwell suffered a smashed left knee, ankle and toes, as well as ligament damage and was left in a wheelchair for seven weeks following the crash.

Her mum suffered a shattered pelvis, a dislocated right knee and a badly bruised shoulder.

Tattooist Roe, who had two previous convictions for drink driving, was also taken to hospital where a blood test showed he was over the legal alcohol limit.

The 39-year-old admitted two charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and drink driving at Warwick Crown Court but walked free from court after being handed a 16-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months.

He was also ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work, to pay £535 costs and was banned from driving for four years.

Sentencing him, Recorder Francesca Levett said: "This was a seriously dangerous manoeuvre executed in the briefest of moments, and no doubt your judgement was clouded by the amount of alcohol you had consumed.

"Your speed was excessive, estimated to have been twice the speed limit in that area.

"What followed was the consequence of your decision to overtake when it was clearly dangerous to do so, and the injuries caused to Miss Sidwell and her mother were extremely serious."

The court heard that the crash happened at dusk when it was raining. Roe was following a car travelling at the 30mph limit when he overtook, ploughing into the mother and daughter at an estimated 60mph.

The Audi the pair was in was hit head on, spinning round and left with its bonnet crushed, trapping them inside.

Prosecutor Sally Cairns said: "The emergency services attended and found Miss Sidwell and Mrs Merridew trapped and in considerable pain, and Miss Sidwell was stuck for two hours before being released and taken to hospital."

The court heard that Sidwell had been forced to give up her job working with children as a result of her injuries.

Roe told police he had been driving behind a car which was doing 20mph and was "bored of waiting" so overtook but lost control.

Andrew Wilkins, defending, said Roe was "horrified at the consequences of his actions".

He said: "It’s a case in which it is a cascade of things that go wrong.

"It all starts to go wrong when he makes the decision to drive after drinking."