A disqualified driver who was more than twice the legal drink and cocaine driving limits has been jailed for 13 years and six months after killing a nine-year-old boy in a crash in Birmingham.

James Connors, 32, of Gables Close, Solihull, was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday, 12 November, after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.

He was also handed a further driving ban of 16 years and nine months.

The crash on Primrose Hill

The collision happened on Primrose Hill in Kings Norton shortly before 6pm on 28 July, when Connors drove his grey Volkswagen Tiguan into a Renault Scenic.

Kyron Gittens-Corbett, a passenger in the Renault, suffered fatal injuries and died in hospital about two weeks later. His grandmother, Christine Corbett, who was driving the Renault, suffered severe injuries including a broken vertebra.

CCTV footage shown to the court showed Connors travelling at 85mph on a 30mph road 100 metres before the impact, and still at 66mph just 18 metres away from the collision. Christine Corbett had pulled her Renault out of Shannon Road and was crossing Primrose Hill towards Sisefield Road when the Volkswagen hit her.

After the crash, Connors was filmed fleeing the Volkswagen with his female passenger, Kathleen Boswell. He briefly returned to the vehicle to retrieve a bottle of suspected alcohol and throw it into a canal, before a witness restrained him at the scene. Connors initially lied to police, claiming Ms Boswell had been driving.

Prosecutor Graham Russell told the court that an off-duty trauma nurse carried out CPR on Kyron. Mr Russell confirmed his injuries were not survivable, and a decision was made to turn off his life support at Birmingham Children's Hospital on 10 August.

Connors failed a roadside breath test and was later calculated to have 171 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, more than double the legal limit of 80 milligrammes. He was also found to be more than double the cocaine limit for driving.

A shocking driving record

Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight described Connors' driving record as shocking, including previous convictions for dangerous driving. In June 2024, he had been handed a 61-month road ban in Bournemouth, and received a further 60-month ban at the Black Country Magistrates' Court on 26 May this year.

Despite those bans, he was behind the wheel on the evening of the crash, with no insurance and no licence, and driving at nearly three times the speed limit on a residential road.

George Wills, defending, said Connors had expressed deep remorse and stated: "The defendant accepts his behaviour was thoroughly reprehensible." Regarding his conduct after the collision, the barrister added: "Plainly a level of thoughtless panic ensued." Connors broke down in tears as his sentence was handed down.

Family describe unexplainable trauma

In a statement read to the court, Kyron's mother Danielle Corbett described her son as "imaginative, kind, caring, loving, funny, happy and compassionate". She added: "We all faced and still face and always will face this unexplainable trauma."

In her own statement, Christine Corbett said: "My life is shattered. I cry myself to sleep every day. This is the worst thing that has ever happened in my life. I feel I can't cope with the trauma inside."

The case is a stark reminder of the devastation caused by drink and drug driving, and of the consequences of driving while disqualified. Kyron was nine years old, a passenger in his grandmother's car on an ordinary evening in Kings Norton, when a banned driver travelling at 85mph in a 30mph zone took his life.

Sources: BritBrief and UM Legacy Press