A driver who ploughed his van into a couple’s home while high on cocaine has been jailed for 14 months – after neighbours tied him up with rope to stop him running off.
Jamie Gilroy, 35, was trying to turn a corner when he crossed a grass verge and crashed through a hedge at about 10.45pm in October last year.
His white Berlingo van then smashed into the 16th-century thatched cottage in Maulden, Bedfordshire, where Steven and Val Fossey were about to go to bed.
The white Berlingo van embedded in the £500,000 thatched cottage in Maulden, Bedfordshire
Jamie Gilroy, 35, tied up after the crash. Neighbours heard the commotion and rushed to stop him fleeing the crime scene. They worked together to tie him up with string
Neighbours heard the commotion and rushed to help tie Gilroy’s legs together with string when he tried to flee the scene, Luton Crown Court heard.
Val, 67, said: ‘There was a dreadful noise – like an earthquake. This van came flying over a hedge and crashed into our hall and kitchen.
‘If I had left the room I don’t know what would have happened.’
She and her husband Steven, 66, have lived in the picturesque £500,000 cottage for 14 years.
Val continued: ‘The driver got out of the van without a scratch. He was still in his work clothes.
‘He tried to get away, but our neighbours held him until the police arrived.’
Gilroy arriving at Luton Crown Court, where he was jailed for 14 months and banned from driving for 60 months
Steven and Val Fossey, who were about to go to bed when the van smashed into their home, where they have lived for 14 years
Shocking pictures show the front of Gilroy’s van embedded in the doorway of the property. Astonishingly, he was unhurt after the crash.
A neighbour said: ‘He was staggering about and I asked him to stay where he was while we phoned the police.’
Prosecutor Neil King told the court it cost £20,000 to repair the house.
Matthew Lippard, defending, said Gilroy had shown remorse and was aware of the impact his offence had on his victims.
A police car parked up at the crash scene. It cost £20,000 to repair the extensive damage to the picturesque property
Jamie Gilroy, 35, was trying to turn a corner when he crossed a grass verge and crashed through a hedge before hitting the property
Sentencing, Judge Barbara Mensah told Gilroy: ‘Your case is at the top end of the scale of dangerous driving.
‘You were driving at speed on a road which required you to slow down. It was a residential road.
‘You were on drugs and caused a very serious accident which left the victims with cost and emotional trauma.’
Gilroy, of Harrow Piece, Maulden, admitted dangerous driving and was jailed for 14 months. He was also banned from driving for 60 months.