Car cruising ban in Stevenage extended an extra five years following horrific crash

An injunction banning car cruise events in a Hertfordshire town which saw 17 spectators injured in a collision has been extended for five more years.

Stevenage Borough Council obtained the original injunction following a crash on Monkswood Way in July 2019, which injured 19 people in Broadhall Way, Stevenage.

This was extended for two further years in 2020. The Council is now hoping to make the ban permanent.

Following a hearing at Luton Crown Court on Wednesday 1 February, it has been agreed that the Car Cruising Injunction will be extended until 31 January 2028.

Labour council leader, Richard Henry, said: “It gives all the organisations, including the police, the time to look into this to make it more permanent.

“[It comes] with a power of arrest so [for] anybody setting up any of these events, we can step in immediately with the police to get these people taken away.”

Anyone found being involved in car cruising, including drivers, passengers and spectators, can be arrested for violating the injunction.

Organising and publicising cruise events is also banned.

Chief Inspector for Stevenage Graeme Walsingham added: “We have been working in partnership with Stevenage Borough Council to make sure we do not see a repeat of the horrific collision that occurred after that cruise event in 2019.

“As a result of the injunction extension, we continue to have powers to prevent the kind of activity that caused the incident, and we will take swift action against those that ignore this legislation. My officers will continue to patrol hot spot locations and deal robustly with those people who flout these new rules.”

Dominic Brown, from St Albans, and Julian Castano Perez, from Dunmow in Essex, were jailed for the crash on 18 July, 2019. Both pleaded guilty to eight charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and 11 of causing bodily harm by wanton and furious driving.