Driver who hospitalised four-year-old girl during Chesterfield horror smash ducks jail term

Danny Curtis-Raegan was speeding on the day of the horror smash on February 4 last year due to a family crisis.

A photograph of the scene shared by Shirebrook Police SNT at the time showed firefighters surrounding two crumpled cars on Brimington Road North.

Derby Crown Court heard today how the infant and her foster mother were both hospitalised but afterwards made full recoveries.

Curtis-Raegan, who admitted causing injury by dangerous driving, was already serving a suspended sentence for another matter at the time of the crash.

His defence counsel Andrew Nixon told the court the defendant was “running late” for work and speeding due to a family matter however he gave no further detail.

Mr Nixon added: “It was absolute stupidity”.

Judge Shaun Smith QC, noting that Curtis-Raegan was on a “suspended sentence for a completely different matter” while driving dangerously, said: “There were circumstances which I’m not going to go into which led to you speeding that day.

“Your dangerousness was speeding and you collided with a car in which there was a young woman and her foster daughter at the time.

“As a result of that they received injuries - the injuries to them will have felt serious but they were not at the top of the scale.

“Thankfully each of them has made a full recovery from those injuries.”

Judge Smith he “stayed'' his hand after Raegan’s guilty plea due for six months to the circumstances and because “you were doing so well on the suspended sentence”.

He said: “It seems to me you are a young man who hopefully has good things going for him going forward.

“When I consider the custodial and non-custodial guidelines it seems to me there is a very realaistic chance of rehabilitation in your case.”

Curtis-Raegan, of Castle Court, Sheffield, was jailed for 15 months suspended for two years and handed a two-year driving ban.

He was also given 240 hours unpaid work and made to pay £750 compensation to his young victim and fined £50 for breaching his suspended sentence.

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