A SPEEDING driver who ran over Gogglebox star Ellie Warner’s boyfriend and left him fighting for his life has been spared jail.
The TV favourite, 33, tragically nearly lost partner Nat Eddleston when a Seat Ibiza smashed into him outside a pub, in Leeds, in March last year.
Instagram/@ ellie__warnerThe speeding driver who mowed Ellie Warner’s boyfriend Nat Eddleston down has been spared jail[/caption]
instagramThe couple have since had a baby boy together named Ezra[/caption]
Nat was rushed to intensive care with a broken neck and back – needing life support – after he was thrown onto the bonnet and into the air.
Leeds Crown Court heard that driver Declan Anderson, 21, ploughed into him with such force that the windscreen of the white motor was shattered and its roof collapsed.
Anderson was speeding at more than 40mph on a 30mph road at the same time helpless Nat was making his way home to Ellie after a night out with pals.
Witnesses said the car swerved on to the wrong side of the road before smashing into him just after midnight on March 18, 2022.
CT scans revealed fractures to Nat’s neck, damage to his brain nerve fibres and bruising to both lungs.
He spent 11 days in intensive care before being fitted with a surgical halo brace.
Still going through the recovery process more than one-year on, Nat has undergone speech therapy and still suffers with health issues, the court heard.
Anderson, of Bramley, West Yorks, stopped at the scene and admitted driving the car during a voluntary police interview.
Lisa Judge, defending, said Anderson had swerved to avoid hitting people in the road and has since shown remorse for what happened to Nat.
But despite this, he was later fined for speeding in separate incident.
Anderson was handed a two-year jail term, suspended for two years.
The judge also banned him from driving for three years.
Passing sentence, Judge Ray Singh said: “You have shown genuine remorse for the victim in this case.
“It points to a mistake of a young man having made a terrible momentary misjudgement by driving dangerously.
“I find it baffling that you then speed once again.
“That is not going to be tolerated in the future. The injuries you caused were life threatening and the harm is continuing.”
Ellie took a six-week break from Gogglebox at the time to support her boyfriend following the horror crash.
The Yorkshire-based couple have since had their first baby together, a boy named Ezra, and introduced him on the TV show in June.
Channel 4Ellie is on the hit Channel 4 show with her sister Izzi[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
