Robert PerryA driver high on cocaine and speeding at 134mph on the hard shoulder of a busy motorway caused a crash that left two police officers badly hurt.
Dylan Hood ploughed into an unmarked police vehicle as officers were dealing with another driver they had stopped on the M8 eastbound in Glasgow on 24 July 2024.
The three-car crash left one constable with brain injuries, and he is yet to return to work more than a year later.
At the High Court in Glasgow Hood admitted a charge of causing serious injury to a total of six people by dangerous driving.
Hood, who had an expired licence at the time of the smash, ran off from the scene before later being found outside a pub.
He told police: “These things happen, mate.”
He had been a passenger in a Mercedes that day before jumping into the driver’s seat, despite having earlier taken cocaine.
He initially went too fast in the city’s Springburn area and passed a car on the wrong side of the road before going on to the M8 at junction 15.
Constables Gordon Bremner and Andrew Blair, meanwhile, were in an unmarked Volvo s90 on the motorway when they pulled over another Mercedes on the hard shoulder.
The officers put on the warning lights on their vehicle to alert other motorists they had stopped, and placed the Mercedes driver in their car.
‘Catastrophic damage’
Prosecutor Mark Mohammed KC explained that Hood was overtaking other vehicles at speed, including going along the the hard shoulder, sometimes driving at more than 100mph.
He then collided with the unmarked police car. The force of the collision caused the police Volvo to be propelled into the back of the Mercedes the officer had stopped.
Mr Mohammed said both cars – along with the one Hood had been driving – suffered “catastrophic damage”.
Footage from inside the constables’ vehicle at the moment of impact was played in court.
Hood had been going at 86mph when he hit the police car, but had reached 134mph five seconds before the smash.
Hood and one of his passengers managed to clamber out of the Mercedes without getting help for the causalities, some of whom had life-threatening injuries.
The passenger Hood had left with eventually collapsed in the street from his injuries.
Hood went to a local bookmakers before getting a taxi to a woman’s house in the city’s Haghill where he changed his clothes, before going to a pub and calling his mother and sister.
In a charge where a not guilty plea was accepted, it was claimed Hood had asked his mother to get him ferry tickets for him to escape the country.
After telling his sister where he was, she then called 999 and officers found him outside the bar smoking.
He was said to be unsteady on his feet, had cuts and bruises and was slurring his speech.
He made a number of comments to police, including saying “It was not my fault. I am lucky to be here. These things happen, mate. I was going that fast, I did not see anything.”
Tested positive for cocaine
Hood was eventually found to have 13mg of cocaine per litre of blood. Cocaine is classified as a Class A drug, and it is also illegal to drive with more than 10mg/l of blood.
PC Bremner’s injuries included a bleed on the brain and spinal fractures.
He was sedated and unconscious in hospital for three weeks, and continues to need specialist treatment. He remains in pain from a shoulder and arm injury.
Mr Mohammed told the court his cognitive function and memory had been affected by the crash, and there was “no likelihood” of him returning to work in the near future.
PC Blair suffered a shattered cheekbone, a wound to his chin and a torn left calf.
He was able to return to frontline duty after extensive physiotherapy.
Among the others hurt, the man the police stopped also had a host of injuries including broken spine, ribs and collarbone.
Road Policing Supt Andy Barclay said the crash had significantly impacted the lives of all involved.
He added “Officers often find themselves dealing with unpredictable situations while on duty protecting the public, but it is unacceptable that they are put in harms way or injured by the irresponsible actions of others.”
Hood was remanded in custody and will be sentenced next month.
The judge Lord Renucci deferred sentencing for reports.
