Crash Brought On By Phone Gambler Led To Premature Birth
26 February 2026
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George TorrEast Midlands
A man who was gambling on his phone when he crashed into a cars and truck, causing a pregnant female to give birth too soon, has actually been jailed.
Jack Bentley hit a stationary Nissan X-Trail queuing in traffic on the A50 in Hatton, Derbyshire, on 6 April.
Police stated the chauffeur of the Nissan suffered whiplash and the pregnant passenger was hurried into healthcare facility with a fractured hips. Two other children in the same car suffered injuries while the family's family pet dog was seriously hurt and had to undergo emergency surgical treatment.
Bentley, 30, confessed two counts of causing major injury by harmful driving and was imprisoned for 28 months at Derby Crown Court and prohibited from driving for 38 months.
After the crash the pregnant female needed to go through an emergency Caesarean area, leaving her early child in intensive care for a variety of weeks, when she suffered two collapsed lungs.
The infant later made a recovery and was able to go home.
Derbyshire Police said Bentley, of Meadow Way, Derby, had actually been travelling home from Blackpool when the crash happened at 18:45 BST.
A motorist in the left-hand lane captured the video on her dashcam, which was used as proof.
Bentley, driving in the right-hand lane, did not see the fixed traffic and crashed without changing his speed, police said.
He was seen earlier drifting into the grass edge of the eastbound carriageway between junctions 6 and 5, along with swerving between lanes.
Bentley was apprehended at the scene. Analysis of his phone information following the crash revealed he had been using his phone while driving, visiting online gambling websites, the force said.
'Missed early minutes'
In a victim effect statement, the mother said: "I required an emergency situation Caesarean due to my baby being in distress. I discovered this extremely traumatic and didn't desire my child to be born like that and that early.
"My infant was born without skin-to-skin contact and me and my partner needed to wait to see her.
"When you have an infant you anticipate to be in a bubble with your partner and newborn infant but we were separated across three wards in the health center and lost out on a lot in those early moments.
"No mom or father should have to go through this.
"The next 3 weeks we spent in health center getting our infant strong enough to come home."
Following sentencing on 11 February, PC Richard Morris, from Derbyshire Police, said: "This was a dreadful display screen of driving by Bentley, who spent the bulk of his journey distracted by being on his phone.
"I that the physical, mental and psychological injury from this event continues to influence on this household, who were simply heading out their day when this completely avoidable collision happened."
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