Driver, 78, sentenced after refusing to give details following Northampton town centre crash
Magistrates sentenced a 78-year-old driver who caused a crash in Northampton town centre then refused to give details to the other motorist involved.
Christopher Thornton admitted being behind the wheel of a Nissan Juke when it was in collision with a Suzuki Swift on July 29, 2025. Thornton’s vehicle had turned right out of St Michael’s Road and was following the road around to join the Wellingborough Road, via Kettering Road and Raglan Street when the collision occurred.
According to court documents from a hearing at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on January 28, 2026, the Suzuki driver had stopped their vehicle to exchange details following the crash. But it was alleged that Thornton then “drove around it, as it was not a safe place to stop, but did not stop in a safer place to exchange details.”
A statement of facts added: “The other vehicle caught up with you on St Edmunds Street and stopped you to exchange details, but you refused.”
Thornton, of Greatmeadow, Northampton, pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention, failing to stop after a road accident and also failing to report the accident at a police station or to a constable as soon as was reasonably practicable, and in any case within 24 hours of it occurring.
Magistrates fined Thornton a total of £697 for the three offences and ordered him to pay £409 towards prosecution costs and a surcharge to fund victim services. He also had his driving record endorsed with four penalty points.