THIS is the moment a distracted driver forced a mum-to-be into early labour after smashing into a car while gambling behind the wheel.

Jack Bentley, 30, spent “almost the entirety” of a two hour drive playing games and placing online bets before the horror crash.

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Jack Bentley smashed into a car while distracted behind the wheelCredit: SWNS
 

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He has now been jailed for two years and four monthsCredit: SWNS
Shocking footage showed the prison officer ploughing into the back of a Nissan X Trail, which then shunted into the car in front.

A pregnant woman, who was travelling with her partner, two children, and dog, were rushed to hospital following the crash.

The mum-to-be was forced to undergo an emergency C-section at 33 weeks – with her daughter weighing just four pounds.

One of the children in the car suffered a fractured ankle, while their dog needed emergency spinal surgery.

Bentley has now been jailed for two years and four months after admitting two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

In a victim impact statement, the mum told how her daughter’s birth was “very traumatic”.

She added: “When you have a baby you expect to be in a bubble with your partner and newborn baby but we were separated across three wards in the hospital and missed out on so much in those early moments.

“No mother or father should have to go through this.

“The next three weeks we spent in hospital getting our baby strong enough to come home.

“I was having to visit my baby on a hospital bed to watch her in her incubator.”

The mum also told how her baby’s lungs both collapsed as she “wasn’t strong enough for the world yet”.

She added: “For my first pregnancy this was a very traumatic experience and one no parent expects or wants to experience.”

Derby Crown Court heard the horror unfolded on April 6 last year on the A50.

Bentley was seen veering into a grass verge and swerving between lanes before hitting the stationary car.

Police searched his phone and found he had been using online gambling sites as he travelled from Blackpool to Derby.

PC Richard Morris, of Derbyshire Constabulary, said: “This was an appalling display of driving by Bentley, who spent the majority of his journey distracted by being on his phone.

“From watching the dashcam footage, it was clear that had he been paying attention he would have seen the queue of traffic in front of him and been able to stop in time.

“Instead he was more focused on his phone and subsequently ploughed into the Nissan, causing extensive injuries to the occupants and their family dog.

“The fact his actions caused a woman to give birth prematurely and left a tiny baby spending the first few weeks of their life in intensive care is nothing short of despicable.”

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The mum-to-be was forced into an early labourCredit: SWNS