Moment hairdresser mother, 35, drives her Mercedes through a red light and causes a police car to crash into her and burst into flames
This is the shocking moment a single mother ran a red light and crashed into a police car, leaving it bursting into flames.
Dramatic CCTV footage captured the moment Stacie Wright’s white Mercedes-Benz A-Class crashed into a marked police car after running a red light at a junction in Birkenhead, Merseyside, at around 11.15pm on November 12.
While a fire broke out in front of the police car due to the impact, the police officer behind the steering wheel was injured and traumatized due to the accident.
Wright, 35, a hairdresser from Rock Ferry on Merseyside, was given an eight-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Wright entered the junction despite the traffic lights being red for about eight seconds.
At the same time, a marked police car driving along Watson Street was driving on a green light with its blue lights flashing.
Footage shown in court showed Wright begin a right turn directly into the path of the police car before the vehicles collided.
Flames erupted from the hood of the police car seconds after the collision
This is the moment Wright’s Mercedes A-Class collided with a marked police car
Sentenced to 8 months in prison for accident, suspended for 12 months
Flames immediately started rising from the hood of the police car
Prosecutor Nathan Cooper said: ‘I think this footage is very graphic of what happened.’
The police car, worth around £15,000, was destroyed in the crash and was written off. A further £2,500 accrued in salvage costs.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Constable Paul Thompson described the physical and emotional toll the crash took on him.
He said: ‘As well as cuts and bruising to my face, I had tinnitus and pain in my ribs which took two months to heal.
‘I have difficulty sleeping because I cannot get comfortable due to my injuries, which causes difficulties in my relationship.
‘It was scary that my car was actually on fire. Putting others first is such a burden to me that my first thought was to go out and check on the driver.
‘If I had been going a mile or two an hour faster I could have killed someone.
‘How close I came to losing everything because of someone else’s actions.
Wright’s Mercedes is seen sliding sideways due to the impact of the collision
Wright described the accident as a momentary lapse in concentration
Chief Justice Charles Wood placed the offense in the most serious category
‘Every time I close my eyes to sleep I still see the flames coming out of the hood and the smoke filling my lungs.’
She added that her 12-year-old daughter, who has additional needs, was still affected by the incident months later, despite being woken up at night and telling her about the accident.
The officer also said he was in extreme pain, had to take time off work and missed educational opportunities, which led to financial difficulties.
Defending Wright, Mr Hunt said the hairdresser was a hard-working single mother who was genuinely remorseful.
He said he described the collision as a momentary lapse in concentration.
Chief Justice Charles Wood said the CCTV footage placed the offense in the most serious category under sentencing rules.
He said: ‘The CCTV footage is very clear and after viewing it we determined that this was a category A1 offence, the most serious offence.
‘The traffic light you passed was red for a significant period of eight seconds.
‘Nine times out of ten this doesn’t happen, but we put these things in place precisely because of the possible consequences.
‘The truth is: this happened.’
As well as the eight-month suspended prison sentence, Wright was banned from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay £272 costs.
No compensation was awarded to Merseyside Police or Constable Thompson as these were covered by insurance and would constitute a civil matter.
