Boozy mum left pedestrian brain damaged after ploughing her car into him – with a four-year-old boy in the back seat
Trainee teacher Sophie Burton, 25, jailed for two years and four months after sinking bottle of prosecco before getting behind the wheel of her Ford Focus
A DRUNK mum left a pedestrian brain damaged after ploughing her car into him - while she had a four-year-old boy in the back seat.
Trainee teacher Sophie Burton, 25, had sunk a bottle of prosecco before getting behind the wheel of her Ford Focus.
Witnesses described how Burton, who was training to be a specialist teacher at a primary school, had undertaken a motorist at ‘excessive’ speed and in an ‘aggressive’ manner shortly before the horror accident.
Her 55-year-old victim was left with serious brain injuries after he was thrown into the air in the collision.
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Chef Ahmed Rezgui had been stood by his car outside a takeaway in Stockport, Greater Manchester.
Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard how the mum, of Stockport, Greater Manchester, had set off ‘angry and upset’ to confront a boyfriend at his home nearby at 10.30pm on January 15.
Burton pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and drink-driving and sobbed in the dock at as she was jailed for two years and four months.
The court heard she had been training at a Hazel Grove primary school to teach children with special needs and those on the autistic spectrum.
Her career now lies in tatters after the conviction and her foundation degree was said to be ‘in a hiatus’.
The court heard her exact speed on the 30mph duel carriageway could not be estimated because police were unable to carry out a reconstruction.
Burton, who was taking prescription drugs and hadn’t eaten all day, did not appear to slow down, the court heard, and hit Rezgui in a location near the Anchor Inn pub before ploughing into his car.
Michael Morley, prosecuting, said she should have had a clear view. He said: “A police constable attended. He could see that she was drunk. She smelled of alcohol and was unsteady on her feet.”
The court heard she told officers: "I only had a drink of prosecco and that was an hour ago", but later confessed to drinking a bottle.
She registered 97 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.
Rezgui, who is married, had been stood behind the boot of his car, which had its hazard lights on. He was rushed to hospital and was currently at home recovering from ‘significant’ brain injuries.
The court heard his speech has now gradually improved and he is regaining the ability to recognise sentences. Mr Morley said: “He has had to learn how to use the telephone again and it might take him two years to recover.”
The four-year-old boy who was on a booster seat in Burton’s car was unhurt.
Judge Mark Savill slammed her "wholly irrational" decision to drive, saying her "selfish conduct" had ruined lives.
He said: “Nothing justified you getting into that car to drive. No one else was to blame for this accident other than you.”
The judge added that doctors said Rezgui was likely to be ‘severely neurologically impaired’ for the rest of his life.
Nicholas Flanagan, defending Burton, said didn’t plan to drive but received a phone call which caused her ‘great angst and concern’. She has now taken steps to stop drinking and had shown ‘extreme remorse’, he said.
Burton, who was suspended but later resigned from the unnamed school after the crash, was also banned from driving for four years.
After the case, Rezgui, 56, from Offerton, who has no memory of the incident said he had forgiven Burton.
He said: “My life will never be the same again. You change after an accident, I have become more anxious. My brain doesn’t work like it used to.
“I have forgiven though. She has prison, that part is finished now I can focus on my own life.”
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