Liam Skym fled Caerphilly crash and left injured passenger

A father-of-three has been jailed after fleeing a car crash which left his female passenger injured.

Liam Skym, 28, was found with drugs and alcohol in his system when he was arrested by police shortly after the incident in Caerphilly last year.

He was jailed for 16 months after admitting dangerous and drug driving at Cardiff Crown Court.

A previous attempted murder charge was dropped following a lack of evidence to prove the crash was deliberate.

The court heard that Skym, of no fixed abode, and Lisa Davies got into a car and were driving to Caerphilly Mountain on 25 October 2023, having spent the previous night together.

After a brief stop, the couple got into an argument before Skym drove off with Ms Davies still in the passenger seat.

"The defendant's driving seemed to be too fast for the nature of the road," said Ruth Smith, prosecuting.

Shortly afterwards, at about 09:30, Skym lost control of the vehicle which veered off the road and crashed into a tree.

After Ms Davies had helped Skym out of the vehicle, he left the crash site and "left her in a disorientated state", according to Ms Smith.

When Skym was later arrested by police he was found to have 100mg of alcohol per 100ml in his system - above the legal limit of 80mg.

He was also found to have almost five times the legal limit of benzoylecgonine in his system, a substance which is a by-product of cocaine.

Both Skym and Ms Davies were treated in hospital following the incident, but were not seriously injured.

A previous charge of attempted murder against Skym was dropped after no evidence was found at the scene "that loss of control [of the vehicle] was deliberate".

Defence barrister Mark Cotter said Skym had been "invited to drive" by Ms Davies "in circumstances where the person would have known" about the substances he consumed the night before.

He added that the levels indicated in the drink and drug tests showed "no clear evidence to say that this was a substantial impairment" on his ability to drive.

The court heard that Skym had convictions for several previous offences, including drug possession, and a driving disqualification for failing to provide a sample.

Sentencing him, Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said that Skym had caused the crash by "driving erratically and too fast for the road conditions", before abandoning Ms Davies.

"It was your choice to drive, and therefore the blame is yours," she said.

Skym was sentenced to one year and four months for dangerous driving, and a four month sentence to run concurrently for driving whilst unfit through consumption of drugs.

The judge also imposed a three year driving disqualification, to begin when he is released from prison, and ordered him to take and extended re-test before he receives another license.