Drug driver, 42, who ran a pink gentle whereas excessive on hashish and left a 10-year-old pedestrian preventing for his life is jailed
A driver who ran a red light and collided with a 10-year-old boy while high on drugs has been jailed.
Danny Butt had taken cocaine and was over the limit for cannabis when he seriously injured the child in Gillingham on June 24, 2022.
The 42-year-old was above of the 30mph speed limit in his Seat Leon while driving on Woodlands Road prior to the collision.
He then sped through a red light at the junction with Cornwallis Avenue before hitting the 10-year-old who had started to cross the carriageway.
The boy suffered serious head injuries and was taken to hospital by air ambulance, but miraculously survived.
Butt was arrested at the scene and taken into custody where police took samples of his blood.
He was found to be over the limit for cannabis and tests also showed the presence of cocaine in his system.
Butt pleaded guilty causing serious injury by dangerous driving at Maidstone Crown Court and was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison on Wednesday.
Danny Butt has been jailed after running a red light and collided with a 10-year-old boy while high on drugs
Danny Butt had taken cocaine and was over the limit for cannabis when seriously injured the child at the junction between Woodlands Road and Cornwallis Avenue (pictured) in Gillingham on June 24, 2022
Butt, of Talma Road, Brixton, London, will also be disqualified from driving for three years upon his release and will have to take an extended retest.
Serious collision investigator, Detective Constable Lee Berridge, said: ‘Butt got behind the wheel of a car knowing he was unfit to drive due to his misuse of controlled drugs.
‘He would have realised he posed a risk to other road users and pedestrians but proceeded, nonetheless, to drive in a very dangerous manner.
‘Furthermore, Butt intentionally tried to beat a red traffic light and this reckless decision has altered the path of a young child’s future.
‘His victim suffered appalling injuries and is gradually recovering whilst making adjustment to his day to day life and receiving ongoing medical assessments.
‘Butt is now quite rightly in prison and should be thoroughly ashamed of his actions.’
