Range Rover driver claimed to have 'blood in his eyes' as he fled from crash scene

A Nottingham father crashed his car then drove off from the scene "erratically" as he was on his way to hospital after an earlier assault. Emmanual Samuels later told police he could not see that well due to blood in his eyes from an earlier attack and only realised he’d been involved in a crash when he saw the damage to his Range Rover as he parked at his destination.

The 40-year-old, of Aspley’s hearing at Nottingham Crown Court, was told how he served an eight-year prison stretch for drug dealing when he was in his early 20s. However, factors including him starting a family and staying out of trouble for 15 years has saved him from a return to jail.

Handing him a suspended sentence, Judge Andrew Smith said: “It is not entirely clear why you were driving in the way you were. But whatever the reason you had been injured and were on your way to hospital when you drove into the back of someone and then drove off.

“You took one corner at such a speed that one of the wheels was described as leaving the road. But you have been out of trouble for 15 years, have a partner with whom you have a two-year-old child and you have responsibilities for a 10-year-old child.

“You have shown you can stay out of bother.”

Dan Church, prosecuting, said the offences happened at around 6pm on August 12, 2023. He said the victim was waiting in his car at a red light in Derby Road when his Toyota was pushed forward from behind by a Range Rover being driven by the defendant who then reversed and drove past him.

The prosecutor said: “The defendant continued to drive along Derby Road and a witness, who was in a passenger seat, described the nature of the driving as ‘fast and erratically’ and his wife, who was driving, pulled over to avoid a collision with the Range Rover as well. Another witness described the Range Rover turned into one street at such a speed that one of the wheels came off the road. They described the car ‘scraping’ along the road.

“He was not arrested until the following day and investigation from CCTV showed the manner of the driving in the build up to the collision. It jumped a red light in Ilkeston Road, went onto Radford Boulevard where it was undertaking vehicles and went through a narrow gap in the traffic.

“He had cuts to his face which appeared to have been recently stitched and told officers he had been involved in an altercation the previous evening and did not realise he had been involved in a road traffic accident until he got to hospital and saw the damage to his car.

“He said he could not see very well while driving because of the blood in his eyes from the assault.”

Samuels, of Vale Crescent South, on the Ainsley Estate, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to stop following an accident and failing to report an accident. He has seven convictions for 37 offences including one for dangerous driving and an eight-year prison term for dealing class A drugs from 2007.

Once Judge Smith indicated he would not be sending his client immediately to prison, Ekwall Singh Tiwana, mitigating, said he had little to add except to tell the court the defendant has “a debilitating condition”. Samuels was handed a six-month jail term, suspended for a year with 20 rehabilitation sessions and 100 hours unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay £500 compensation, £150 costs and was disqualified from driving for a year.