Man who crashed into St John’s car park and injured two university students is jailed

A 23-year-old man has been jailed for three years and two months after he seriously injured two university students in Swan Street, Northampton.

At about 3.35pm on Friday, October 18 last year, Joshua Coulton failed to stop for police officers in St Peter’s Way. A police pursuit ensued with Coulton losing control of the stolen SEAT Leon he was driving and crashing it into St John’s car park.

During the incident, the car collided with two university students, both of whom were studying for their masters’ degrees at the University of Northampton at the time. Two of their friends, also students at the university, narrowly avoided being injured.

Following the collision, Coulton did not stop to see if they were OK but instead ran away, arriving at Northampton General Hospital a short time later for hospital treatment for injuries resulting from the incident.

He was arrested and subsequently charged with two counts of causing serious injury through dangerous driving, one count of aggravated vehicle taking and dangerous driving, one count of driving whilst disqualified, one count of being the driver of a vehicle who failed to stop after a road accident, and one count of driving without insurance.

After pleading guilty to the offences at Northampton Crown Court on October 21 last year, Coulton returned to the same court on Monday, January 27, where he was sentenced to three years and two months in prison.

During the hearing, both of the injured university students had victim impact statements read out to the court.

One of them, a man in his 20s, said: “I recall the sound of screeching tyres and then an intolerable pain across my entire body. It felt as if I had been involved in an explosion. I remember being on the ground with bricks and rubble everywhere and feeling incredibly scared.”

The other, a woman in her 20s, said: “This accident has destroyed my life and long-term future career plans. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to resume my career or manage to work again, as my injuries are significant.”

Lead investigator Detective Constable Lee Norton, of Northamptonshire Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “The injuries that these two young people suffered were significant and both continue to work toward recovery. I want to thank them for their support, and I hope the fact that Joshua Coulton has been sent to prison will provide them with some semblance of justice. 

“I know the mental scars they have from this incident are severe but I want them to know that they are very brave individuals with positive futures ahead of them. 

“I am pleased to see this significant sentence handed to Coulton – a man who crashed a stolen car into two people and chose to run away instead of checking on them. I hope he spends his time in prison reflecting on just how much he’s affected their lives.”