Drink driver who mowed down pedestrian before speeding off with children in the car is jailed
A drink driver who hit a grandfather before speeding away with her children in the car has been jailed for two years and four months.
Laura Preston was seen driving at 80mph in a 40mph zone before she ran over Carl Durbin on a pedestrian crossing in Willenhall on a Friday afternoon last March.
At her sentencing for causing serious injury by dangerous driving, the video of the collision was shown in Wolverhampton Crown Court, sparking gasps and tears from Mr Durbin's family and the dock where 37-year-old Preston was crying.
When the car struck Mr Durbin, who looked both ways before crossing Walsall Street, it was travelling at 52mph in a 30mph zone.
Mr Durbin was thrown 20 feet into the air and left fighting for his life during a three-month stay in hospital.
Despite her windscreen being broken Preston continued driving, not stopping at the scene, almost knocking over another pedestrian in a Morrisons car park after mounting the kerb and driving the wrong way down a one-way street.
A witness described her driving as "frantic" and "erratic" and noticed a primary school age girl screaming out the window as the car mounted a kerb.
