Gosford: Luke Anthony Downs jailed over crash that broke passenger’s neck

A disqualified driver agreed to give a man he had only just met a lift to hospital to have his infected thumb checked but drove dangerously and crashed, fracturing his passenger’s neck.

Luke Anthony Downs when he was arrested in Tamworth in 2019 and later convicted of firearm and drug supply offences before moving to the Central Coast. (Picture: NSW Police)

A disqualified driver has been jailed over a fiery crash that left his passenger with a fractured neck.

Luke Anthony Downs, 33, faced Gosford District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, failing to stop and assist after a crash, trespassing, common assault and driving an uninsured, unregistered car while disqualified.

The court heard Downs was visiting a house at Bradys Gully Rd, North Gosford, on August 1, 2023, where he was introduced to a man who had recently injured his thumb with an angle grinder.

The man had a pin inserted in his thumb and was concerned it was infected so he asked his girlfriend to ask Downs if he could drive him to Gosford Hospital.

Downs, the man and another woman got in Downs’ unregistered and uninsured Subaru Impreza for the short trip to hospital about 11pm.

The man wanted a lift to Gosford Hospital for an infected thumb but ended up there with a broken neck. Picture: Peter Clark

Judge Tanya Bright said Downs “started speeding” soon after leaving the house with his passengers yelling at him to stop “however the offender ignored them both”.

Another motorist was at the intersection of Donnison St and Henry Parry Drive, in front of Gosford Courthouse, when the lights turned green and he went to cross but heard Downs’ silver Impreza screaming down the hill.

Downs was sentenced at Gosford Court, where he crashed in front of on August 1, 2023.

An agreed set of facts states Downs switched lanes to avoid hitting that motorist but lost control and rolled the Impreza, which caught fire.

“The horn was blaring and there was screaming from within the vehicle,” Judge Bright said.

Using CCTV from the courthouse, an expert was able to establish Downs was driving no less than 87km/h in the 50km/h zone.

Other motorists stopped to try and help Downs’ passengers out of the burning wreckage while Downs fled on foot.

A couple were at their home nearby when they heard noises in the bushland outside.

Downs was driving an unregistered and uninsured silver Ipreza. (File image)

The man went to the back fence and saw Downs approaching and could see him “bleeding from his head”, the court heard.

The resident told Downs it was private property and he couldn’t come in but Downs said “it’s all right mate, I just need to get through” as he jumped the fence.

The resident tried to grab him but Downs assaulted him and ran through the house and out the front door.

Police found him on Henry Parry Drive with a cut to his head but without any other evidence they let him go.

His male passenger was taken to Gosford Hospital where scans revealed he had a fractured neck and was transferred to Royal North Shore Hospital.

The Impreza was towed to a holding yard where officers matched DNA from a blood spot on the airbag to Downs.

He was arrested a month later but declined to be interviewed.

“Those agreed facts clearly disclose very serious objective criminality,” Judge Bright said.

“The offender was speeding, driving erratically and ignoring requests from his passengers to stop the vehicle.

“His reprehensible driving ultimately caused the significant injury to [the victim]. The offender put at risk not only the two passengers in the vehicle but all other road users.”

The court heard Downs was on parole at the time of the crash after serving two years and nine months jail for firearm offences and commercial drug supply in Tamworth.

The court heard Downs was remorseful for his actions.

“I regret my actions, I wish I could take them back. I shouldn’t have been in the car,” he told a psychologist.

Judge Bright sentenced him to two years and seven months jail with a non-parole period of one year and five months.

She also fined Downs $1000, put him on a community correction order for two years and disqualified him from driving for three years.