Ambulance crash driver Shane Hughes 'faces jail'
- Published
The driver of the decommissioned ambulance, Shane Hughes, is due to be sentenced on 16 November
A man who crashed a decommissioned ambulance into a level crossing and abandoned the vehicle has been told he is facing a jail sentence.
The ambulance hit a barrier near Kildwick, North Yorkshire, in July.
Shane Hughes, 41, from Ramsgate Street, Halifax, appeared at Bradford Crown Court on a separate theft offence.
A judge warned Hughes he faces jail for driving while disqualified, having no insurance and endangering the safety of persons on the railway and a theft.
He will be sentenced on 16 November by Judge Jonathan Rose at Bradford Crown Court for all of those offences.
In August Hughes pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and endangering the safety of persons on the railway when he appeared at Skipton Magistrates' Court.
It is understood that Hughes was being pursued by police officers after driving away from the scene of a fatal collision between two other vehicles on the A65.
A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said at the time of the incident that the decommissioned ambulance had used its blue lights during the pursuit and the railway line had to be closed for the vehicle to be recovered.
Judge Jonathan Rose granted Hughes conditional bail so that reports can be prepared by a psychologist and the probation service, but he warned him that it was "very likely" he would go to prison for what he described as serious offences.
Hughes is currently banned from driving, but as he adjourned the case Judge Rose warned him not to drive anything with an engine or he faced being kept in prison until his sentence hearing.
- Published17 August 2018
