A DRIVER who ploughed head-on into another car before going on the run half way through his trial has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison.

Earlier this year Ibraahim Ibraahim was found guilty of causing serious injury by dangerous driving after he drove a hired Vauxhall Astra into a Peugeot 306 driven by Robert Scott on Bridgeman Street in February 2014.

The jury at Bolton Crown Court heard how Mr Scott, who was aged 25 at the time, suffered multiple fractures and had to undergo surgery after the Astra, speeding and on the wrong side of the road, hit his vehicle head on just before 8am on February 1, 2014.

Ibraahim ran from the scene and later claimed he had only been a passenger in the Astra.

But the jury heard that forensic investigators had found saliva on the Astra driver’s side airbag which matched Ibraahim’s DNA.

Three passengers had been in the car and Ibraahim, now aged 34, admitted the group had been out all night drinking in Liverpool.

Spirits and cups were found in the Astra and Ibraahim admitted he had been “tipsy” at the time of the crash.

Mr Scott was on his way to work at the Peugeot dealership in Bolton at the time of the collision which left him with numerous fractures and in a wheelchair for five months.

In a victim impact statement read to the court by Simon Barnett, prosecuting, Mr Scott, a keen footballer and fell runner, said he had been forced to leave his job due to his injuries which had also led to the breakdown of his relationship.

Ibraahim, who was living in Crescent Road, Bolton, at the time of the accident, is thought to have fled the country on the same day and returned to his native Somalia.

He was arrested back in the UK in 2019 after being involved in another car crash when officers discovered there was a warrant out for his arrest.

Ibraahim, who was also driving without a licence or insurance, subsequently pleaded not guilty and gave evidence on the first day of his trial in November this year before fleeing once more.

Stephen Tettey, defending, said “multiple attempts” had been made to contact Ibrahim but his whereabouts remain unknown.

Sentencing Ibraahim in his absence to four years nine months in prison, Judge Timothy Stead said he had “run away leaving Mr Scott quite possibly dying”.