Sedgley cocaine death crash driver gets just 26 weeks

Ben Davies, who admitted he had taken cocaine the night before the crash, was behind the wheel of the Vauxhall Corsa that hit Tom Cox.

Mr Cox's family were so disgusted with the sentence that some stormed out of the packed public gallery at Dudley Magistrates' Court yesterday. Mr Cox was walking to a Sedgley bus stop to meet his girlfriend on his birthday when he was hit by the car at 11pm.

The former Willingsworth High School student of Turton Road, Tipton, was found lying on the pavement with serious head injuries and died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham the next morning.

Davies, 21, of Old Park Road in Dudley, handed himself into police 13 hours after the crash on November 17. He admitted he had 'hit something' and recalled 'hearing a thud' before panicking and driving off, the court was told. While he told them he had taken cocaine the previous night, police analysts said they could not say with certainty that this had affected his driving a day later.

Davies appeared at court on April 5 when he admitted failing to stop after the accident. He was bailed but disqualified from driving while awaiting sentence.

On April 19, in what his solicitor described as a suicide attempt, Davies took his father's Land Rover and drove into a lamp-post on Sedgley Road West. He later admitted failing to stop after an accident, driving without insurance, driving carelessly and while disqualified.

Davies' solicitor Mr Simon Hanns said: "These second offences are this young man attempting to take his own life. Whatever I say cannot help the family of the deceased. Nobody comes out of this with anything but sorrow and tragedy."

Davies was jailed for 26 weeks for failing to stop in November. He was also sentenced to 26 weeks, to be served at the same time, for driving while disqualified and failing to stop in April.

He also received a three-year driving ban.