Family's lives wrecked on way to Birmingham Airport by drink-driver three times over booze limit

A family's lives were wrecked on the way to Birmingham Airport by a drink-driver who was more than three times over the alcohol limit. Mark Craig was also travelling at around double the 30mph speed limit on Tile Cross Road when he veered his BMW into the oncoming lane and caused a head-on smash with an Audi.

The 40-year-old cowardly fled the scene, along with three other occupants of his car, leaving behind his female relative who bashed her head off the windscreen. In the Audi was a family from Lincolnshire who were on the way to Birmingham Airport.

They were due to go on holiday because the driver's elderly father, who was sitting in the back, had recently been diagnosed with cancer. Both were seriously injured in the smash as was the driver's mother, who was also a rear seat passenger. At the scene medics feared she would not survive her injuries.

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Police eventually caught Craig sleeping at a flat in Erdington nearly 24 hours later. He initially denied involvement in the crash but ultimately pleaded guilty to three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Craig, of Bertram Road, Small Heath was jailed for three years and six months at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, November 22 as well as banned from the roads for nine years and six months.

Judge Andrew Smith KC said: "You have changed the lives of the family forever. The physical and emotional toll for them as individuals and as a family is very significant."

The collision took place shortly before 3am on June 22 last year. The family from Lincolnshire travelled in two cars in convoy.

The driver of the Audi, which was in front, spent five days in hospital with a broken hand, dislocated foot, broken toes and fractured ribs while his parents, both in their 80s, suffered life-threatening injuries. His mother was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital with abdominal bleeding, a collapsed lung, fractured leg and broken wrists.

And his father suffered 13 broken ribs, a fractured sternum, abdominal bleeding and fracture to his vertebrae. The driver stated for the first time in his life he was now unemployed and having to rely on benefits as well as the income of his wife, who was his front seat passenger and also sustained lesser injuries.

He said: "Since the collision we have really struggled. We are certainly not living the lifestyle we enjoyed and worked so hard for. The mental and emotional impact was so severe.

"We were told my mother's injuries were so severe she was going to die. The distress this news had on me I find hard to talk about. My father too had severe injuries.

"The purpose of the holiday was to take our minds off my father's cancer diagnosis and treatment. To see him so poorly again was heartbreaking and stressful."

The driver's father stated he did not get to go on holiday and said instead he got '13 broken ribs'. He also told of how his retirement plans, which included going on cruises with his wife, had been ruined.

He said: "Our mobility and freedom has been stolen from us by a dangerous driver. It's all I think about. It wakes me up in the night. It's the first thought in my head when I wake up in the morning.

"Every time I breathe I'm reminded of my injuries because it's uncomfortable when my chest expands. I did nothing wrong, worked hard to provide for retirement and it has all been taken away by a dangerous driver."

Craig's female relative, who he abandoned at the scene, was sitting in the rear middle seat but not wearing her seatbelt. She flew forward and hit her head off the windscreen of the BMW, sustaining minor injuries. She stated she had only been in the car for a few minutes before the collision and candidly said Craig was 'driving like a d*******'.

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Craig only had the BMW for about a month before the incident. He was arrested at a flat in Slade Road, Erdington at 1.50pm later that day. A back calculation concluded at the time of the crash his alcohol concentration would have been 119 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath - more than three times over the legal limit of 35 micrograms.

Prosecutor Stefan Kolodynski said: "As the family were travelling towards the airport the defendant drove his vehicle on the nearside and strayed completely to the offside causing a direct head-on collision.

"The driver of the Audi tried to take what preventative measures he could by braking hard. The impact was such it pushed their vehicle backwards and indeed after the collision both vehicles were actually entwined by virtue of the impact and mangling of metal."

The collision was caught on CCTV and it was estimated Craig was doing between 59.7 to 61.5mph on the 30mph road. The court was told he had previous convictions as well as three points for speeding on his licence incurred in 2021.

Sharon Bahia, defending, said: "His long-term relationship ended which led to him drinking to excess and getting in the car. His guilty plea is demonstration of true remorse.

"From his own letter he states what guilt he feels in relation to those affected. The first question he asked today was 'how was the family and what was the effect of their injuries?'. He knows all of that is a result of his actions.

"Clearly there is an issue with alcohol. Despite knowing he's obviously going to receive a custodial sentence of some years he has engaged with Change Grow Live."