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A man who was driving while disqualified fled the scene after a high-speed collision that left one of his passengers seriously injured. Jamie Challis, 24, tried to deny he had been behind the wheel of a Volkswagen Polo that reached speeds up to 70mph before crashing into another vehicle and then a lamppost. The crash tore open the rear door of the car and ejected a 22-year-old passenger onto the road. Despite his attempts to evade responsibility, police were able to link Challis to the crash through DNA found on the vehicle’s airbag.
The incident, captured as part of the Crash Detectives series, revealed that instead of assisting the injured passengers, Challis reportedly said, “I gotta go,” before running away from the crash site in Newport. After his escape, a thorough investigation conducted by Gwent Police uncovered key evidence. Forensic collision experts found that Challis lost control of the car while speeding around a 30mph bend near a cemetery in May 2022. The Polo swerved onto the kerb and spun around a lamppost, causing the rear-seat passenger, who was not wearing a seatbelt, to be thrown out of the vehicle.
Witnesses described seeing a slim, dark-haired man wearing a distinctive two-tone blue puffer jacket exit the driver’s side door and run from the scene. The front-seat passenger told police he did not know who was driving. However, officers used CCTV footage from a nearby estate and a local pub to identify the suspect. They spotted the man in the same blue puffer coat and recognized distinctive features including a tattoo and a silver bracelet. This led them to recall previous contact with Challis, confirming his identity as the driver who fled.
A critical breakthrough came from the vehicle’s electronic data. Investigators accessed the airbag control module, which had stored a snapshot of driving information recorded just before the crash. This data showed that the driver accelerated from 67mph to 70mph while navigating sharp turns and only applied the brakes at the moment of impact with the oncoming car. According to PC Matt Rue, the data “paints a picture” of a driver panicking and trying unsuccessfully to regain control. DNA recovered from the airbag provided irrefutable proof that Challis was indeed the driver at the time of the collision.
Challis admitted to being present in the vehicle but denied driving, stating he ran because he was on licence for a prior offence and was in possession of cannabis. However, forensic swabs taken from inside the car, especially the airbag, linked him directly to the driver’s seat during the crash. Sgt Cath Raine emphasized the significance of this evidence, noting that it is highly unlikely anyone other than the driver would have touched the airbag upon deployment.
Beyond the crash, Challis was implicated in an earlier crime. In January 2022, he was connected through DNA found on a discarded balaclava used during an aggravated burglary in Bridgend, where armed intruders threatened a family and demanded money. Challis later pleaded guilty to several charges including causing serious injury by dangerous driving, aggravated burglary, driving while disqualified, dangerous driving, and possession of drugs with intent to supply. A judge labeled him a dangerous offender and imposed a prison sentence of nearly 20 years, which included an additional five years beyond the usual term
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