A distracted driver playing online gambling games behind the wheel caused chaos on the A50, smashing into a stationary car and triggering early labour for a pregnant woman. Jack Bentley, 30, a former prison officer, has now been jailed for his reckless stunt.
Crash Chaos on the A50
At around 6.45pm on April 6, Bentley’s Ford Focus was seen wildly swerving between lanes, veering into the grass verge, and hogging lanes on the eastbound carriageway between junctions 6 and 5. Seconds later, he crashed into the back of a Nissan X-Trail stuck in traffic.
The impact pushed the Nissan into another stationary vehicle. While the Nissan’s driver suffered whiplash, his pregnant passenger fractured her pelvis and was rushed to the hospital. She underwent an emergency C-section, delivering her baby prematurely, who was then placed in intensive care.
Family Injuries and Trauma
- Two children in the Nissan also suffered injuries.
- The family dog was seriously hurt and required emergency surgery.
“I needed an emergency caesarean due to my baby being in distress. I found this very traumatic and didn’t want my baby to be born like that and that early,” the victim said. “No mother or father should have to go through this. We were separated across three wards in the hospital and missed out on so much in those early moments.” “The next three weeks we spent in hospital fighting to get our baby strong enough to come home. I watched her in an incubator while nurses rushed because her lungs collapsed. Hours later the other lung collapsed. For my first pregnancy, this was utterly traumatic.”
Jailed for Dangerous Driving and Online Gambling Distraction
Bentley, from Meadow Way, Derby, was arrested on the spot. Phone data revealed he was surfing gambling sites while driving from Blackpool to Derby.
He pleaded guilty to two charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. On February 11, 2026, Derby Crown Court sentenced him to two years and four months behind bars and banned him from the road for over three years.
“This was an appalling display of driving,” said PC Richard Morris, lead investigator. “Bentley was so distracted by his phone, he failed to see the queue ahead and crashed into the Nissan, causing severe injuries to the family and their dog. Causing a woman to give birth prematurely and leaving the baby in intensive care is nothing short of despicable.” “The trauma continues to affect this family deeply. I hope knowing Bentley is behind bars helps them find some comfort as they recover.”
