Slurring driver left woman with shattered collar bone after running Wakefield red light
He then verbally abused police who tried to breathalyse him
A slurring driver drove through a red light and smashed into a car on a crossroads, leaving a woman badly injured.
Gareth Barnes tried to run from the scene but after being detained and became verbally abusive towards officers when they asked him to provide a road-side breath test.
The 39-year-old admitted causing serious injury through dangerous driving during a hearing at Leeds Crown Court.
He also admitted harassing his ex girlfriend and burgling her house.
Prosecutor Matthew Moore-Taylor said a Range Rover containing two men and two women had been returning from Leeds Bradford Airport on May 24 last year.
Barnes had been driving a silver Audi A3 when he went through a red light at speed at the junction of Station Lane and Wakefield Road in Featherstone and ploughed into the front nearside of the Range Rover, sending it into a 90-degree spin.
The driver of the Range Rover feared it would catch fire after it began to fill with smoke. All of the occupants were able to escape.
Barnes was still in the driver’s seat of the Audi when the emergency services arrived. He then got out and tried to run but was quickly apprehended.
Officers noticed he was slurring his speech, his eyes were glazed and smelt of alcohol, but refused a test.
He also refused again at the station and began to swear at officers calling them “corrupt”.
Judge Simon Batiste questioned why he was not charged with failing to provide a specimen for analysis, but acknowledged it would make little difference to his sentence.
A female passenger in the Range Rover suffered multiple fractures to her collar bone and ribs.
The court also heard that Barnes, of Verner Street, Featherstone, had harassed his ex partner earlier this year when she ended their on/off relationship.
He continued to call her from withheld numbers and sent her emails warning her about seeing other men.
He even sent a message to the woman’s grandmother showing a photo of him in a balaclava with the chilling message: “Tell her I’m hunting.”
On March 5, Barnes let himself into the woman’s home when she was not present and stole her passport.
The court heard that Barnes has 10 previous convictions for 18 offences and was out of prison on licence during his latest offending.
Mitigating, Jeremy Barton said having been held on remand he “had time to think about what could have happened” with the crash and how it could have been worse.
He said: “He accepts he drank that night. He has had some issues with alcohol.”
The court heard that he admitted not paying attention while behind the wheel and laughing with his passengers.
Judge Batiste gave him 42-month jail sentence and a driving ban of five years and nine months.
He was also given a five-year restraining order.