Two men jailed following serious collision in Birkdale

Mark Birch and Scott Worthington (left to right)

We welcome the sentencing of two men for driving offences today, Monday 24 May, following a serious road traffic collision in Birkdale in 2018, caused by the two men racing each other. 
 
Scott Worthington, 28 years, of Park Road, Southport, and 29-year-old Mark Birch of Stuart Road, Bootle, were jailed for a combined total of more than three years and both received significant driving disqualifications. 
 
Worthington pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He received a two year prison sentence and a four year driving disqualification, with a requirement to take an extended test.
 
Birch pleaded guilty to dangerous driving. He received a 13 month prison sentence and a 3 year 6 month driving disqualification, with a requirement to take an extended test. 
 
On Saturday 24 November 2018 we received a report that a grey Seat Leon Cupra, a black Mercedes AMG CLA and a blue Mercedes C Class car had been in collision, before a 25-year-old man was knocked from his bicycle on Lulworth Road.
 
Emergency services attended the scene and the cyclist was taken to hospital with life changing injuries. 
 
Birch, driving the Mercedes, and Worthington, driving the Seat, were sighted by witnesses to be racing each other along Lord Street, Southport and onto Lulworth Road. 
 
Worthington overtook Birch at speed and collided with a vehicle emerging from a side road, lost control and struck the cyclist. 
 
Worthing remained at the scene while Birch failed to stop. Both were arrested and later charged.  
 
Roads Policing Inspector Stuart McIver said: “This was a horrifying incident which saw the victim suffer from life-changing injuries and could have had even more devastating consequences. 
 
“We hope that today’s sentence shows that we simply will not tolerate racing on the streets of Merseyside - it is utterly reckless and puts our communities at unnecessary risk on our roads.
 
“If you make the stupid decision to drive in this manner we will find you and put you before the courts.”
 
You can pass any information to us about any driving offences in your community via our social media desk @MerPolCC on Twitter or 'Merseyside Police Contact Centre' on Facebook, or call the independent charity @CrimestoppersUK anonymously on 0800 555 111. You can also contact them via their online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/give-information. Always call 999 if a crime is in progress. 

We also work with Aftermath, a registered charity providing immediate and expert support for all those involved in road traffic collisions. More details can be found here: https://www.aftermathsupport.org.uk/