A motorist who was drunk, speeding and already banned from the roads has been jailed for 13 years and six months after causing a crash that killed a nine-year-old boy and seriously injured his grandmother.
James Connors, 32, of Gables Close, Solihull, was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday, November 12, after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.
The crash happened on Primrose Hill in Kings Norton shortly before 6pm on July 28. CCTV footage showed Connors ploughing a grey Volkswagen Tiguan into a Renault Scenic. Nine-year-old Kyron Gittens-Corbett, travelling in the Renault, sustained fatal injuries and died in hospital approximately two weeks later. His grandmother Christine Corbett suffered severe injuries, including a broken vertebrae.
Attempt to flee the scene
In the aftermath of the collision, Connors was filmed abandoning the Volkswagen alongside female passenger Kathleen Boswell. He briefly returned to the vehicle, but only to retrieve a bottle of what appeared to be alcohol and hurl it into the canal before a witness restrained him at the scene.
Connors initially lied to officers, falsely claiming Ms Boswell had been behind the wheel. The investigation revealed he was more than twice over the legal limit for both drink and cocaine driving at the time of the collision, while moments before impact he had been travelling at 85mph on the 30mph road.
Connors had also narrowly avoided another vehicle minutes before the crash and was subject to two driving bans on the day, the most recent having been imposed just two months previously.
Previous driving record
The sentencing judge branded Connors' motoring history as 'shocking', pointing to previous convictions for dangerous driving. In June 2024, he had been given a 61-month driving ban in Bournemouth, only to receive a further 60-month ban at Black Country Magistrates' Court on May 26 this year.
Prosecutor Graham Russell told the court that, prior to the fatal crash, Connors had attempted to overtake an Audi at 'excessive speed' on Icknield Street, Kings Norton, only to abort the manoeuvre due to an oncoming vehicle. This forced the Audi driver to take evasive action himself, swerving into a ditch and leaving his car scratched and dented.
The Audi driver then tailed Connors while his passenger filmed him driving in what they described as a 'crazy' manner, before Connors braked sharply and executed a U-turn around a bollard.
Crash footage shown in court
Connors then proceeded onto Primrose Hill, where CCTV footage captured him travelling at 85mph on the 30mph road, just 100 metres before the collision. He was still travelling at 66mph a mere 18 metres from the point of impact.
Christine Corbett pulled her Renault out of Shannon Road and crossed Primrose Hill towards Sisefield Road when Connors' Volkswagen slammed into her. Mr Russell stated: "When she checked to her right to pull out she saw a grey car which seemed very far away. She didn't anticipate, nor did she have reason to anticipate, the Volkswagen driven by Mr Connors would have reached such excessive and unsafe speeds."
The playing of crash footage in court drew audible gasps from those present. Connors' Volkswagen came to rest 100 metres further along the road. Bystanders rushed to help, among them an off-duty trauma nurse who immediately began performing CPR on Kyron. Mr Russell confirmed that his injuries were 'not survivable' and the decision to switch off his life support was taken at Birmingham Children's Hospital on August 10.
Ms Corbett was taken to hospital suffering from neck and chest pain, along with head bruising. She had sustained a fractured vertebrae and was discharged two days later.
Returning to the scene of the crash, Mr Russell stated: "The off-duty nurse saw Mr Connors get out of the Volkswagen's driver seat as Kathleen Boswell got out of the passenger side. Ms Boswell was bleeding from an injury to her head and face. Mr Connors took her hand and they started to walk or run away from the crash heading across the canal bridge. There was no effort at all to look to the occupants of the stricken car or contact emergency services."
He did return to his own car leaving Ms Boswell sitting on the steps of the canal bridge. "He jogged back to the Volkswagen and took a bottle of alcohol from the driver's door pocket. It was estimated it was only a quarter full. Mr Connors walked past all of the witnesses and hurled the bottle into the canal."
The court heard that a member of the public detained Connors at the scene, leading to his arrest. The prosecutor added: "He repeatedly called out to Kathleen Boswell saying she had been driving. That was a lie."
Sentence and victim impact
Connors failed a roadside breath test and was subsequently calculated to have had 171 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood at the time of the incident - more than double the legal limit of 80 milligrammes. He was also found to be more than double the cocaine limit permitted for driving.
Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight branded his previous driving record as 'shocking', yet remarked: "It is almost never appropriate to ban a person (from driving) for life and I don't find this is such a case." Connors broke down in tears as his sentence was delivered. He was additionally disqualified from driving for a further 16 years and nine months.
In a statement, Kyron's mother Danielle Corbett described her son as 'imaginative, kind, caring, loving, funny, happy and compassionate'. She added: "We all faced and still face and always will face this unexplainable trauma."
In her own statement, Christine Corbett recalled the moment she woke up inside the Renault, crying out her grandson's name as he lay unresponsive across her lap. She said: "My life is shattered. I cry myself to sleep every day. This is the worst thing that has ever happened in my life. I feel I can't cope with the trauma inside."
George Wills, defending, stated he had 'expressed deep remorse' and said: "The defendant accepts his behaviour was thoroughly reprehensible." Addressing his conduct in the wake of the crash, the barrister added: "Plainly a level of thoughtless panic ensued."
