Twice-the-limit drug driver jailed after horror crash in Scarborough: he was 'lucky to be alive'

A dangerous drug driver who crashed in Scarborough and had to be airlifted to hospital has been jailed and banned from driving for three years.
Mr Westoby has been jailed for drug driving offences.Mr Westoby has been jailed for drug driving offences.
Mr Westoby has been jailed for drug driving offences.

Paul Westoby, 29, of Langley Drive, Norton, Malton, was sentenced at York Crown Court today, Monday April 11 after pleading guilty to dangerous driving, drug driving and an insurance fraud offence.

Mr Westoby was jailed for nine months and banned from driving for three years.

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The single-vehicle collision occurred on Thursday April 29 last year, on Lady Edith’s Drive, near Scalby Road in Scarborough.

Emergency services at the crash last year.Emergency services at the crash last year.
Emergency services at the crash last year.

Witnesses said Mr Westoby had been “driving erratically and overtaking other vehicles at high speed” just before the collision while heading south on the 30mph limit road.

The 29-year-old’s black Volvo C30 R-Design T5 ended up in a crumpled heap near the old Yorkshire Coast College site after the car smashed into a tree and lamppost .

Firefighters had to cut the roof off the car to free him while paramedics and an air ambulance crew provided emergency treatment.

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A blood sample taken in hospital found Mr Westoby to have been driving with 3.2 microgrammes of cannabis in a litre of blood in his system, and the legal limit is 2 microgrammes.

Traffic Constable Mark Patterson, of North Yorkshire Police’s Roads Policing Group, said Mr Westoby was “lucky to be alive and even luckier that he did not harm anyone else” in the incident.

“Shockingly,” said TC Patterson, “Westoby was already under investigation for the same offence at the time of the crash after he was stopped by the police in Norton on 30 December 2020.

“On that occasion, he was double the limit for cannabis. He pleaded guilty and was given a 12-month driving ban when he was eventually sentenced in December last year.”

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Mr Westoby’s Volvo was examined following the collision, and it was found to have defective tyres and no MOT.

“It had also been modified,” said TC Patterson, “and these modifications had not been declared to his insurer who cancelled his policy.

It also came to light that he had falsely claimed to have a clean driving licence when he took the policy out, which resulted in the insurance fraud offence.

TC Patterson added: “Taking his previous drug driving incident into consideration, Westoby was blatantly in breach of the law on the day of this very serious collision.

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“It could so easily have ended his own life or tragically taken the lives of other motorists or pedestrians.

“I welcome the firm stance taken by the court with the custodial sentence, and it is pleasing that Westoby has been disqualified from driving for three years with a three-month extension.

“We simply will not tolerate this type of behaviour on our roads, and we will continue to do everything in our power to bring such offenders to justice and make our roads safer for everyone.