A disqualified driver who was more than twice the drink-drive limit and over the cocaine limit 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.

The collision happened on Primrose Hill in Kings Norton shortly before 6pm on 28 July. Connors was driving a grey Volkswagen Tiguan when it struck a Renault Scenic carrying nine-year-old Kyron Gittens-Corbett and his grandmother, Christine Corbett.

Speeding at 85mph in a 30mph zone

CCTV footage shown to the court showed Connors travelling at 85mph on the 30mph road about 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.

Kyron suffered injuries that could not be survived. An off-duty trauma nurse carried out CPR at the scene, and the boy was taken to Birmingham Children’s Hospital, where a decision was made to turn off his life support on 10 August, about two weeks after the crash. His grandmother suffered severe injuries, including a broken vertebra.

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. He initially lied to police, claiming Ms Boswell had been driving.

More than double the drink and drug limits

Connors failed a roadside breath test and was later found 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.

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 he received a further 60-month ban at the Black Country Magistrates’ Court on 26 May this year.

A family shattered

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 said: “We all faced and still face and always will face this unexplainable trauma.”

Christine Corbett said in her own statement: “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.”

Sentence and driving ban

Alongside the prison sentence of 13 years and six months, Connors was handed a further driving ban of 16 years and nine months. George Wills, defending, said Connors had “expressed deep remorse” and accepted that his behaviour had been “thoroughly reprehensible”. He added that, in the moments after the collision, “plainly a level of thoughtless panic ensued”. Connors broke down in tears as his sentence was handed down.

The case was reported by the BritBrief court report and by the Birmingham Mail report carried by Big City Radio.