Drink-driving Hallam student smashed into carer after being distracted by rolling bottle

A Hallam student driving three times over the drink drive limit left a carer suffering life-changing injuries – after being distracted by a beer bottle rolling from under a seat.

Victim Paula Parker was left wheelchair bound and told she would never fully recover when reckless student Jamie Baldock hit her after boozing on beer, whisky and champagne on a night out.

The 22-year-old student was jailed for the head-on smash after getting behind the wheel when he couldn’t stay at a friend’s home and tried to sleep off the alcohol in his mother’s Toyota Urban Cruiser before setting off home in the morning.

Baldock, from Huddersfield, West Yorks., was told by a judge he “ruined a woman’s life” after hitting Paula when the rolling bottle distracted him causing him to drive straight across a bend in Ilkley, also West Yorks.

Mrs Parker had to be cut free from her Ford Fiesta after the smash later having to undergo surgery to remove her spleen and part of her small intestine, as well as treatment for fractures to her left leg and right foot.

She was told she would never fully recover from her injuries.

Jamie Baldock

Baldock was jailed for three years at Bradford Crown Court after admitting causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He told police he was surprised to see the bottle roll out from under the seat next to him, and when he looked up Mrs Parker’s car was in front of him.

The court heard how the defendant, who is studying criminology and sociology at Sheffield Hallam University, told officers he had made an extremely stupid mistake and said he felt “gutted” about what happened.

Judge Jonathan Rose said Baldock had caused “irreparable, permanent and long-lasting serious harm” to Mrs Parker.

“Sleeping it off does not make the alcohol in your blood go away,” the judge told Baldock.

“You were drunk. You’re a drink driver who has ruined a woman’s life – that’s why you are going to prison for a substantial period of time today.”