Prison officer playing on telephone when he ploughed into again of automobile at 71mph with pregnant lady and two youngsters inside is jailed

A prison officer was gambling on his mobile phone when he ploughed into the back of a pregnant woman’s car at 71 mph.

Jack Bentley, 30, had spent ‘almost the entirety’ of his two-hour journey on gambling and gaming sites before hitting the car carrying the woman, her partner, two other children and the family dog.

The woman, who was 33 weeks pregnant, suffered a broken pelvis and had to undergoe an emergency C-section, giving birth to her premature 4lb daughter while under general anaesthetic.

The baby’s father missed the birth while his daughter in the car suffered a fractured ankle and the dog needed emergency spinal surgery, Derby Crown Court heard.

Bentley, a former soldier, had earlier been seeing clipping the kerb and weaving in and out of traffic, leaving another motorist so concerned they took a picture of his car.

Jack Bentley, a prison officer from Derby, was gambling on his phone when he ploughed into the back of a car at 71mph containing a pregnant woman

Jailing Bentley for two years and four months, Recorder Penelope Stanistreet-Keen said: ‘For pretty much the whole two hours you were in the car, you had been on your phone on gambling and gaming sites.

‘Eight miles earlier (a witness) was so concerned about your driving – clipping the kerb, hogging the outside lane and weaving in and out of traffic – they took a photo of your car in case they needed to call the police.

‘The traffic in front of you was stationary but your car did not slow down, you did not brake or deviate and you ploughed into the back of a car at 71mph.

‘That contained a woman who was 33 weeks pregnant, her partner, his two children and the family dog.

‘She had to undergo an emergency C-section and was under a general anaesthetic when she gave birth to her daughter.

‘She had no skin-to-skin-contact with her daughter, who weighed just four pounds, for three weeks.’

Phillip Plant, prosecuting, said the collision took place on the eastbound A50, near Foston, Derbyshire, in the early evening of April 6, last year.

He said Bentley was driving home to Derby from Blackpool and mobile phone evidence showed he had been on gambling sites ‘for almost the entirety’ of the journey.

The victims were travelling home to Yorkshire after visiting relatives.

CCTV played in court showed Bentley’s Ford Focus drive into the rear of their Nissan X-Trail.

The prosecutor said: ‘The pregnant victim suffered a fractured pelvis, her step-daughter a fractured ankle and the dog, which was in a crate in the back, had to undergo emergency spinal surgery.

‘Her daughter was born by emergency C-section and her partner could not be there for the birth.

‘In her victim impact statement she said ‘Any mother should not give birth without skin-to-skin contact and for the first three weeks all I could see of my daughter was her in an incubator from my hospital bed’.’

Bentley pleaded guilty to two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving which was described as ‘all over the place’ by a witness in the minutes before the crash.

He has no previous convictions.

Justin Ablott, mitigating, said Bentley served in the Army in Kenya but was forced to leave the profession he loved due to hearing problems caused by artillery fire.

He said, more recently, the defendant has been a prison officer but has been suspended pending the outcome of this case.

The barrister said: ‘He would like to say how sorry and devastated he is for what he has done.

‘He knows the incident has had a huge effect on the victims and their family.’

As well as the jail term, the judge disqualified Bentley from driving for three years and two months.

It was not said in court which prison he works at.