Juraj Kozar flees to Dover after seriously injuring two in car smash
15:50, 20 May 2024
updated: 15:51, 20 May 2024
A driver who ploughed into a car at 93mph and fled after severely injuring two people was arrested in Kent while trying to leave the country.
Two people suffered life-changing injuries following the collision in Wolverhampton on February 16.
Juraj Kozar was driving a blue Suzuki SX4 while three times the speed limit in a 30mph zone when he hit a VW Polo.
Despite his 17-year-old passenger being seriously hurt, Kozar then ran from the scene.
An alert was put out for his arrest and two days later he was located aboard a ferry in Dover, bound for across the Channel.
The ship had already set sail but returned to port for the 29-year-old to be taken into custody.
A woman in her 60s, who was travelling in the other Polo, was also seriously injured and underwent life-saving surgery in hospital.
Both victims’ injuries have had life-changing implications, and they are continuing lengthy recoveries.
Kozar, of Warsash Close admitted two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, failing to stop after a collision and driving without a licence or insurance,
He was sentenced on Friday May 17 at Birmingham Crown Court to four years in prison and was disqualified from driving for seven years.
The criminal will be required to sit an extended retest before being able to get behind the wheel again.
PC Gail Arnold of West Midlands Police said: “Kozar’s actions that night have had life-changing consequences, not only to those injured, but their loved ones.
“The family of the driver of the other vehicle was told that she suffered injuries that she should not have survived from.
“She spent two weeks sedated to give her body time to adjust to the shock and trauma her body had experienced.
“Kozar’s passenger also had life-saving surgery and has spent many weeks in hospital.
“I hope Kozar’s time in prison gives him chance to reflect on his selfish actions, and how a moment of speed exhilaration can have such devastating consequences.”