The convicted drug dealer convinced another man to take the blame when he crashed his car into a tree
John Thornley(Image: Merseyside Police)
A convicted drug dealer told a judge that he “panicked” when he crashed his car into a tree after he had “had a few shandies”. John Thornley fled on foot from the scene of the accident, leaving his passenger unconscious and with serious injuries.
Having been subject to a suspended prison sentence at the time, he then convinced another man, Kenneth Shollicar, to falsely claim that he had been behind the wheel at the time of the collision. But the ill-fated scheme ultimately left both men behind bars.
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday afternoon, Thursday, that Thornley was driving a silver Ford Focus along Walton Hall Avenue at around 2.45am on June 11 2023 when the car left the carriageway at the junction with Stanley Park Avenue North and collided with a tree. Front seat passenger Patrick Heron suffered serious injuries as a result of the incident, including a a fractured left arm and right hip.
Graham Pickavance, prosecuting, described how Thornley, of Colesborne Road in Norris Green, thereafter dragged the unconscious casualty from his vehicle and left him in the road before fleeing the area. The 37-year-old later received a notice of intended prosecution from Merseyside Police in relation to the crash, but replied stating that Shollicar had been the driver.
This led to the latter being arrested on July 26 that year, with the 54-year-old, of Guilsted Road in Norris Green, backing up this false account under interview. But suspicions arose when a review of CCTV footage found that the motorist was of a different build.
Subsequent investigations meanwhile found Thornley’s DNA on the driver’s airbag, which had been deployed during the collision, rather than Shollicar’s. It came after the former was handed a two-year imprisonment suspended for 24 months for possession of cocaine with intent to supply in March 2022.
Kenneth Shollicar(Image: Merseyside Police)
Representing himself in court, Thornley said: “I wasn’t paying attention. I’d had a couple of shandies earlier in the day. I stayed up to watch the UFC. It was wet, it was lashing down. It was just a mixture of things, and I just panicked. I made the wrong decisions. That’s why I’m here today.
“I didn’t leave till the paramedics was there. I didn’t leave me mate, Patrick. I haven’t really got any mitigation. I made a mistake. I injured Patrick and I dragged Kenneth into it. I can only apologise.”
Shollicar meanwhile has 68 previous convictions for 120 offences. His counsel Matthew O’Neill told the court that his client had “problems with drugs”, with the grandad having spent around seven months on remand in custody to date.
Thornley admitted causing serious injury by careless driving, perverting the course of justice and breaching a suspended sentence order. Wearing a green Castore t-shirt in the dock, he was jailed for three years and disqualified for 28 months.
John Thornley(Image: Merseyside Police)
Shollicar pleaded guilty to perverting the course. Appearing via video link from HMP Liverpool wearing a grey North Face t-shirt, he was handed 12 months. This means that he will likely be released from prison imminently due to the time he has already served.
Sentencing Thornley, Judge Denis Watson KC said: “You had been drinking earlier in the evening. You protest that you had only been drinking a few shandies, but accepted that your driving was at least impaired by alcohol. When exceeding the speed limit, you crashed, causing serious injury to your front seat passenger Patrick Heron.
“You then left the scene and embarked upon a prolonged period of steps and lies to try to evade responsibility, the motivation of which seems to be two fold. In the short term, to perhaps avoid investigation as to quite how much alcohol was in your bloodstream and the nature of the driving, but also because any offences would put you in breach of the suspended sentence order.
“The investigation enabled the police to conclude that the person climbing away from the car was somebody of a very different build to Mr Shollicar. Investigations soon revealed that it was your DNA, with not a finding relating to Mr Shollicar. In spite of all that, you disputed that you were the driver until the day of trial.”
Turning to Shollicar, the judge added: “Following the crash in which John Thornley drove into a tree, putting Mr Heron in hospital, he decided that he did not wish to bear responsibility for that, and he persuaded you to take responsibility. But the CCTV footage did not fit with that story, and, when the scientific analysis of whose DNA was on the airbag was done, it was confirmed that, not only did it not look like you, it was not you.
“In spite of that, you buried your head in the sand. Only on the day of trial did you admit that you had perverted the course of justice. You have a very poor record. This is a case where you have spent 219 days, or so, in custody. You have probably served that sentence and may well be released.”
Heron was also locked up for 14 months yesterday for perverting the course of justice. The 38-year-old, of Ashdale Road in Mossley Hill, falsely reported his van as stolen after it had been driven by his work colleague during a fatal crash in a separate incident.