A DRINK driver who seriously injured two men and then fled the scene before police arrived has been jailed.

Ethan James Wells-Smith, 23, was banned from driving when he took a Mercedes Sprinter van without permission.

He crashed it into a Toyota Corolla and Isuzu D-Max at the junction of the A59 and B6451 near Menwith Hill on Sunday January 22.

The 48-year-old driver of the Corolla had broken ribs, sternum and cheekbone, the 72-year-old driver of the Isuzu had internal bleeding and head and tongue injuries and his 69-year-old passenger suffered lesser injuries.

Wells-Smith, formerly of Darley and Pateley Bridge, Nidderdale, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, drink driving, driving whilst disqualified and without insurance and aggravated taking of a vehicle without consent. He was jailed for two and a half years at York Crown Court and banned from driving for four years and a month from the date of the court hearing. Detective Constable Quita Passmore of the Harrogate Investigation Hub said: “Wells-Smith acted completely selfishly that night. He paid no regard to the safety of any other road users and chose to drive in a dangerous and irrational manner.”

“The fact that he then went on to leave the scene of the crash without any thought to the people he had caused serious injury to, only adds further insult Wells-Smith was caught because witnesses to the crash saw which way he ran and told officers who arrested him a few minutes later. All three victims have now left hospital.