'It changed my life' - Tom Carey speaks out after car crashed in Bevois Hill Southampton

Those are the words of Tom Carey, who was struck by a car involved in a police chase earlier this year.

The 27-year-old utilities surveyor had just crossed the road in Bevois Hill on March 27, 2018 when Gentjan Lalaj,pictured right, who was driving a stolen Volvo, hit him.

Mr Carey was catapulted over a garden wall and suffered from life-long injuries.

 

Speaking after Lalaj was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court yesterday, Mr Carey, said: “I do remember everything. I had just crossed the road. I heard tyres screeching, I turned around and that is when I was struck. He did knock me down. I was on the floor trying to get up.”

As previously reported, the Volvo caught fire before rolling and colliding with a BMW.

“I could feel the heat and the smoke. I was very scared and in a lot of pain. I know it was serious but I didn’t fear for my life. I still have nightmares,” he said.

Mr Carey, who is originally from Rochester, Kent, said he was working in Southampton just for that day.

Yesterday the court heard how Mr Carey, who was wearing high-visibility clothing at the time of the incident, suffered from a broken nose, fractured collarbone, multiple bruises and cuts to his face.

His injuries caused him to be in hospital for 12 days and prevented him from attending his grandfather’s funeral.

Roderick Blain, prosecuting, told Southampton Crown Court, that due to his injuries Mr Carey was “totally reliant on others” and he found that “humiliating”.

Mr Blain added: “Initially he required parents and siblings give up their work in order to look after him.

"He still faces a surgery to reset his nose broken during the incident.

"He talks about night terrors, how he relives the incident and he describes how he suffers from panic attacks and anxiety when near to moving traffic.”

Mr Carey, who is still suffering from knee problems, said he has been left with life-long injuries while Lalaj “has got less than he has got”.

This comes after Lalaj, 21, was jailed for three years yesterday.

The court heard how Lalaj, of Gervase Close, Wembley, north London, failed to stop for police and led pursuing officers on a chase at speeds of 50mph along 30mph streets in Southampton on March 27.

Originally from Albania, he had claimed he was being chased by someone wishing to enact an Albanian blood feud against him, the court was told.

Sentencing Lalaj, Judge Nicholas Rowland said the jury had dismissed his claim that he believed he was being chased as part of a blood feud, and told him: “The police were trying to stop you but they had to give up as you were driving so dangerously.

“You drove in such a way as to cause those injuries to Mr Carey who, unlike you, was working hard. The injuries could have been far more serious or even worse than that. This has had a serious effect on his life both personally and at work. Nothing but an immediate custody sentence can be justified in this case.”

Unyime Davies, defending, said that Lalaj was remorseful.

She added: “When the police asked Mr Lalaj ‘how are you’ he said ‘I feel very, very bad for the man I hit’. He hoped that Mr Carey would be in court so that he could apologise in person. He recognised the seriousness of the offence. “

Ms Davies also said that Lalaj had no previous convictions and neither drugs nor alcohol were found in his blood at the time of the incident.

Mitigating she added: “Custody is very difficult for any person who has never been in custody before, he struggles further because of the language barrier.”

As well as the prison sentence, Lalaj was given a six-and-a-half-year driving ban after he was found guilty of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He also pleaded guilty to driving without a licence or insurance.