Driver who sped at 134mph on M8 hard shoulder caused three-car pile up which left officers injured

A speeding driver who had been going at 134mph on the hard shoulder of a motorway caused a horror smash which left two police officers badly hurt.

Dylan Hood was also high on cocaine and had an expired licence at the time of the three-car smash on the M8 eastbound in Glasgow on July 24, 2024.

The 28-year-old ploughed into an unmarked police vehicle as officers were dealing with another driver they had stopped.

One constable was left with brain injuries and is yet to return to work more than a year later.

Hood ran off from the scene before later being found outside a pub. He stated to police: “These things happen, mate.”

Hood – who had previously been banned from the road – appeared in the dock at the High Court in Glasgow on Friday.

He pleaded guilty – via his KC Lili Prais – to a charge of causing serious injury to a total of six people by dangerous driving.

Hood was remanded in custody and will be sentenced next month.

He had initially been a passenger in a Mercedes that day before jumping into the driver’s seat. This was despite Hood having earlier taken cocaine.

Prosecutor Mark Mohammed KC said: “He did not have a driving licence and was not insured.”

He initially went too fast in the city’s Springburn, passed a car on the wrong side of the road before going on to the M8 at junction 15.

Meanwhile two PCs were in an unmarked Volvo s90 on the motorway when they pulled in another Mercedes on the hard shoulder.

The officers put on the warning lights on their vehicle to alert other motorists they had stopped.

This Mercedes driver then got into the back of the police car.

Hood continued his erratic driving on the M8. This included undertaking other cars at speed.

Mr Mohammed then explained: “He went into the hard shoulder…and continued along it in excess of 100mph.

“While then performing an undertaking manoeuvre, Hood collided with the stationary unmarked police car.”

Footage from inside the constables’ vehicle at the moment of impact was played in court.

Hood had been going at 86mph when he hit the vehicle – but had reached 134mph five seconds before the smash.

The force of the collision caused the police Volvo to be propelled into the back of the Mercedes the officer had stopped.

Mr Mohammed said both cars along with the one Hood had been driving suffered “catastrophic damage”.

Hood and one of his passengers managed to clamber out of the Mercedes without getting help for the casualties, some who had life-threatening injuries.

A large-scale emergency response was sparked after other drivers who saw the crash dialled 999.

The passenger Hood had left with eventually collapsed in the street from his own injuries.

Hood went to a local bookmakers before getting a taxi to a woman’s house in the city’s Haghill where he changed his clothes.

He then went to an east end pub and called his mother stating he had “flipped the car”, but was “fine”.

In a charge where a not guilty plea was accepted, it was claimed Hood had asked her to get him ferry tickets for him to escape the country.

Hood next spoke to his sister to say where he was.

Mr Mohammed said: “She subsequently phoned 999 to repeat his location to the police.”

Officers found him outside the bar smoking. He was said to be unsteady on his feet and his speech was slurred. Hood was also cut and bruised.

Hood went on to make a number of comments to police: “It was not my fault. I am lucky to be here. These things happen, mate. I was going that fast, I did not see anything, f*** sake.”

He refused to give a breath or saliva sample stating: “I smoke weed every day.”

Hood was eventually found to have 13mg of cocaine per litre of blood. The limit is 10mg.

The victims of the crash were rushed to hospital with the motorway shut off for hours.

One PC’s string of injuries included a bleed on the brain and spinal fractures.

He was sedated and unconscious in hospital for three weeks.

He continues to need specialist treatment and remains in pain from a shoulder and arm injury.

Mr Mohammed told the court: “His cognitive function and memory are affected.

“There is no likelihood of [the officer] returning to work in the near future.”

The second PC suffered a shattered cheekbone, a wound to his chin and a torn left calf.

He was able to return to frontline duty after extensive physiotherapy.

Among the others hurt, the man the police stopped also had a host of injuries including broken spine, ribs and collarbone.

Lord Renucci deferred sentencing for reports.