Ten Year Sentence For Burgess Hill Drug-Driver Who Caused Passenger's Death

A man from Burgess Hill who caused the death of a woman in the car he was driving while affected by drugs has been given a ten-year sentence.

Thomas Jeeves, 31, of Junction Road was driving at Ditchling Common in June 2019 when he lost control and crashed.

The collision led to passenger Stephanie Ray from Haywards Heath losing her life.

Jeeves had ten times the legal limit of a cocaine-related chemical in his bloodstream.

He was sentenced at Hove Crown Court on Friday 28 June, having been convicted by a unanimous jury verdict after a five-day trial, of causing death by careless driving whilst over the specified limit for a controlled drug.

Jeeves will serve five years in prison, and five years on licence.

He was also disqualified for eight years and was ordered to take an extended re-test before he can drive again.

According to police, at about 2.30am on 4 June 2019, Jeeves had been driving a Vauxhall Corsa south on the B2112 Common Lane, Ditchling when he lost control of the vehicle as he was negotiating a short section of temporary road-works.

The car left the road, crashing through a metal barrier, becoming airborne and colliding with trees.

The front seat passenger, a 22-year old woman, along with Jeeves himself, suffered serious injuries.

The rear seat passenger, Stephanie Ray, 26, from Haywards Heath, was also seriously injured and lost her life in hospital a week later, following complications with a medical procedure to remove her breathing tube.

Jeeves was found to have had 529mcg of benzoylecgonine (a cocaine body-breakdown product) per litre of blood in his system, which is over ten times the legal specified limit for driving.

The court heard witness evidence that Jeeves had been driving at speed earlier that evening, and that he had almost had a collision at the same set of road works a few days earlier.

In sentencing Jeeves, Judge Christine Henson, told him that he had a complete incapability to accept responsibility for the collision.

She said: 

"Your driving fell not far short of dangerous.

"After colliding with a crash barrier, you have gone through a large sign and impacting with two trees.

"I conclude that you were driving at a significant speed and driving dangerously for the conditions at night.

“This was of course an illegal drug you knew you had taken, which is a relevant factor.

“Your sentence cannot reflect the loss of Stephanie Ray and what her friends and family have suffered.”

Detective Sergeant Rob Baldwin, of the Surrey and Sussex Serious Collision Investigation Unit added:

"This has been a long and complex investigation.

"Thomas Jeeves argued that his driving was not careless, that he had not taken drugs, and that he had not been responsible for Stephanie’s death, blaming the medical procedure as the sole cause.

“Independent expert witness evidence from a Home Office pathologist, a clinical trauma consultant, and an ear, nose, and throat surgeon, found that there was a direct link between the collision and the subsequent death.

"The medical procedure was necessary and attempts to prevent her death had been carried out to a high standard.

“The chain of events which led to Stephanie’s death began with the serious injuries which she sustained in the collision, and a defendant is not generally absolved of responsibility just because of medical complications.

“I hope that the robust sentencing in the case serves to deter anyone who is thinking of driving after having taken drugs.”