Jail for Audi drink driver who hit ambulance driver after 109mph speeding

The driver of the Vauxhall Corsa, who was on his way home from an evening shift in the capital, had to be flown to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital with paramedics performing CPR.

Simon Russell, 39, who was driving former England football team’s forwards coach Allan Russell’s £90,000 Audi has now been jailed for causing the crash.

Sending him down for 32 months and banning him from the roads for three years at Oxford Crown Court, Judge Nigel Daly said: “Were I dealing with death by dangerous driving I would consider that driving at 109mph in a 30mph limit, during the dark, when you are twice the legal alcohol limit would amount to a flagrant disregard to the rules of the road and, of course, the danger caused to others.

“In my judgement you deliberately got in that car when you knew you had been drinking and you deliberately drove at that speed knowing the speed limit.”

Simon Russell's custody shot Picture: THAMES VALLEY POLICE

Devastating crash

The court heard that Russell had driven down from his home in Scotland on July 10 last year with a friend to pick up a new car.

They’d enjoyed a barbecue with Russell’s brother Allan, who had to leave his position as England’s striker coach in May after he pleaded guilty to allowing his brother to drink drive.

The group then went out drinking in nearby Watlington. Allan Russell drove his powerful Audi RS6 to the town; the men planned to leave the car and walk home at the end of the night.

After drinking at a couple of pubs, Russell took the car keys from his brother. As they drove along the Shirburn road, he was in the driver’s seat, Allan was in the front passenger seat, while his friend and a woman they’d met that evening were in the back of the car.

Data from the Audi’s onboard computer showed that five seconds before the crash, the car had been doing 104mph through Shirburn – a 30 zone. That increased to 109mph 2.5 seconds before the collision.

Russell’s speed meant he took a bend on the wrong-side of the road, hitting his victim’s Vauxhall Corsa head-on. A homeowner living nearby compared the sound of the speeding Audi to a ‘rocket’.

Ambulance driver Danny Moss was left with devastating injuries, including broken legs, ribs, chest bone, a collapsed lung and other internal injuries. Air ambulance medics had to perform CPR on him and, at hospital, he received four blood transfusions and underwent multiple operations.

In a victim personal statement read to the court by prosecutor Jonathan Stone, Mr Moss’s sister said he continued to suffer the effects of the crash. She said: “The consequences of one person’s actions will be with this family forever.”

Simon Russell outside Oxford Crown Court

'Tragedy'

Mitigating, David Hughes said the case was a ‘tragedy’ for both Mr Moss and his client’s families. “He has been throughout his life entirely law abiding, 39 years of age, no previous convictions and a totally clean driving record and as he fully appreciates and your honour will as well, he’s in the dock before you today facing the loss of his liberty.”

In a letter to the court, Russell, managing director of a scaffolding firm, described his decision to get behind the wheel of the Audi as the most stupid of his life. He said: “[I am] deeply ashamed of my actions and deeply regret that someone was injured as a result of my stupidity and recklessness.”

Mr Hughes said Russell had a teenage son who would be affected if his father were sent to prison.

His brother had had to sell his house to cover the cost of the £90,000 Audi, which the defendant was not insured to drive. Allan Russell, who admitted allowing his brother to drink drive, lost his job with the England squad in May.

In an allusion to Mr Russell’s former role and England’s semi final victory on Wednesday, the defence barrister said: “If this hadn’t happened he may well have been part of a very large celebration. As it is that career was terminated.”

Russell, of Montague Street, Glasgow, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, drink driving and driving without insurance.

Judge's sentencing remarks

Sentencing him, Judge Nigel Daly said: “You are 39 years of age and but for these proceedings you’d be a person of good character. You are no longer a person of good character. You have pleaded guilty to these offences and as you know I have now got to sentence you.

“The most serious of these offences is causing serious injury by dangerous driving. I have also got to sentence you for driving with excess alcohol and having now insurance for the vehicle.

“On Friday, July 10 you drove down from Scotland in a hire vehicle. You were going to collect a new car. You went to your brother’s house and there was a barbecue taking place that day.

“After the barbecue you and others went to Watlington to visit a couple of pubs. Your brother drove the car to Watlington and I accept it was going to be left there and you were going to walk the comparatively short distance back to his home when you had finished drinking in Watlington.

“The car in question was an Audi RS6. That is an extremely powerful car as you are well aware.

“You visited a couple of pubs and then decided as you had planned to do to go back to your brother’s house.

“For some reason which, frankly, still escapes me you decided to drive, your brother sat in the front passenger seat. There were two rear passengers. One of those, we know, was also injured as a result of the collision.

“When you drove that vehicle you were uninsured. You may not have been aware of that at the time but that is not the most serious factor. The fact of the matter is you had a blood alcohol level twice the limit for driving. You have heard from Mr Stone’s opening the case some of the findings if the person who investigated the cause of this collision and in particular the data recorder in the Audi.

“It showed that five seconds away from the collision you were driving at 104mph and you were still accelerating. 2.5 seconds prior to impact you slammed on the brakes. At that point you were going at 109mph when the legal limit for that road was 30mph. This could not have been an accident. When you were interviewed you indicated that you knew the road. You must have known that you passed through that small village. You must have known there was a 30mph speed limit. I believe there is ‘SLOW’ written on the road at points.

You were entering a left hand bend and because of the speed you were travelling you went onto the other side of the road. You have collided – effectively head-on – with [the other car].”

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