Cocaine-fuelled driver, 23, hits police car at 134mph on Glasgow motorway

Dylan Hood crashed into an unmarked police car on the M8 in Glasgow while high on cocaine and speeding at 134mph. One officer suffered a brain bleed and has not returned to work over a year later.

Drug-driver ploughs into unmarked police car at 134mph on M8, leaving officer with lasting brain injury

Dylan Hood, 23, was travelling at 134mph on the hard shoulder of the M8 motorway in Glasgow when he smashed into an unmarked police vehicle, bbc.com reports. The collision on 24 July 2024 left two officers seriously injured and caused what prosecutors described as "catastrophic damage" to three cars.

Hood had taken cocaine earlier that day before climbing into the driver's seat of a Mercedes — despite holding only an expired licence. He had initially been a passenger in the vehicle before taking control, then sped through the Springburn area of Glasgow, overtaking cars on the wrong side of the road, before joining the M8 at junction 15.

Constables Gordon Bremner and Andrew Blair were already on the motorway's hard shoulder in an unmarked Volvo S90, having pulled over another Mercedes. They had activated their warning lights and placed that driver inside their vehicle when Hood struck them from behind. The force of the impact pushed the police Volvo into the rear of the car they had stopped.

Hood was travelling at 86mph at the exact moment of impact, having reached 134mph just five seconds before the collision. Footage captured inside the officers' vehicle at the moment of the crash was played to the High Court in Glasgow.

PC Bremner suffered a bleed on the brain and spinal fractures. He was sedated and remained unconscious in hospital for three weeks and continues to require specialist treatment. More than a year on, he has not returned to work. Prosecutor Mark Mohammed KC told the court that Bremner's cognitive function and memory had been affected, and that there was "no likelihood" of him returning to duty in the near future. PC Blair sustained a shattered cheekbone, a chin wound and a torn left calf muscle, but was eventually able to return to frontline policing after physiotherapy.

The driver of the Mercedes that officers had stopped also suffered significant injuries, including a broken spine, broken ribs and a broken collarbone. One of Hood's own passengers later collapsed in the street from his injuries after the pair fled the scene without summoning help, despite some casualties having life-threatening injuries.

Hood himself left the crash site on foot. He visited a local bookmakers, then took a taxi to a woman's house in Haghill where he changed his clothes, before making his way to a pub and phoning his mother and sister. In a charge on which a not guilty plea was accepted, it was alleged he had asked his mother to obtain ferry tickets so he could flee the country. His sister instead called 999, and officers found Hood outside the pub, smoking. He was unsteady on his feet, slurring his speech and had visible cuts and bruises.

He made several remarks to police at the scene, including: "It was not my fault. I am lucky to be here. These things happen, mate. I was going that fast, I did not see anything."

Hood was subsequently found to have 13mg of cocaine per litre of blood. The legal limit for driving is 10mg per litre; cocaine is a Class A controlled drug.

At the High Court in Glasgow, Hood admitted a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving to a total of six people. He was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing next month, with Lord Renucci deferring the hearing for reports.

Road Policing Superintendent Andy Barclay said the collision had "significantly impacted the lives of all involved." He added: "Officers often find themselves dealing with unpredictable situations while on duty protecting the public, but it is unacceptable that they are put in harm's way or injured by the irresponsible actions of others."

Source: Google News IE — Crime (en)