A petition has been set up to seek ‘justice’ for a father who was jailed for causing serious injury by dangerous driving after he chased two men who attempted to break into his home in 2019. The case appeared on a recent episode of Channel 4’s 24 Hours in Police Custody.
Adam White, 34 and from Leighton Buzzard, was sentenced for 22 months in February 2020 after his pursuit of two career criminals in his Mercedes 4x4 resulted in him crashing and accidentally knocking Taylor Benford and Ryan Paul off their stolen motorbike. The pair ended up in hospital, with Benford fracturing several bones, while Paul suffered a brain bleed.
White, a dad of two, was arrested at the scene and charged, before he was eventually convicted and sentenced at Luton Crown Court. Benford and Paul were given suspended sentences and 200 hours community service at the same court for the attempted burglary.
The duo have a raft of previous convictions for offences such as possession of an offensive weapon, theft, dangerous driving, criminal damage, shoplifting and drug dealing. And now they are apparently trying to sue electrician White, allegedly for up to £1million, over their injuries.
Not only did White’s ‘moment of madness’ see him get thrown in jail, he also spent £50,000 on legal fees, lost his £60,000-a-year job and was banned for driving until 2025. Worst of all, though, he also lost his unborn child after he and his wife Lindsay felt compelled to abort their first child together just a month after the incident.
“It was a moment of madness,” he said. “Thank God no one died. I have paid a high price.
“If someone comes to my house again I’m not going to chase them.”
A police spokesman said: “This episode is an important reminder that people must not take the law into their own hands. The best thing to do when a crime is happening is to call 999.”
The case appeared on a recent edition of Channel 4’s ’24 Hours in Police Custody’, which saw White, who is step-dad to Lindsay’s two children, quizzed by officers in the moments after the accident, in which he could be seen asking, “Am I in trouble? I’m not going to prison for this, am I?”
Following the airing of that programme, a GoFundMe page was set up, raising £150,000 for the couple in less than a week. And now a petition has been set up on change.org to find justice for the brave father, who has since been released from prison.
At the last count, over 75,000 signatures had been collected, although it’s not clear yet what the petition is hoping to achieve.
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