We’ve got our life back: Dad jailed for running burglars off road thanks well-wishers who donated nearly £140,000

2 December 2022, 08:44 | Updated: 2 December 2022, 09:21

By Fran Way

@journofran

A dad-of-two who was jailed for chasing two burglars and running them off the road said he can ‘start afresh’ after kind strangers raised more than £147,000 for his family.

Taylor Benford and Ryan Paul, both 25, were armed with a crowbar and bolt cutters when they tried to break into Adam White’s family home in September 2019. His wife Lindsay, 34, and their two children, aged 8 and 10, were also in the house.

They managed to make a speedy getaway on a motorbike but White chased after them in a Mercedes 4X4, eventually running them off the road close to his home in Leighton Buzzard.

They were left with serious injuries including a fractured skill, bleeding on the brain and broken bones.

The pair are now trying to sue Mr White’s insurance for £1million.

White, 34, was sentenced to 22 months in prison in February for causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Meanwhile, the burglars Benford and Paul, walked free from court with a suspended sentence.

The case aired on an episode of Channel 4 documentary series 24 Hours in Police Custody on Monday night, sparking an outpouring of sympathy from some viewers who were furious that he was convicted.

One viewer even set up a GoFundMe for Adam after he spent £50,000 of his family savings, credit cards and loans to pay for legal fees.

In just one day, the fundraiser racked up more than £91,000 – including a generous donation from one anonymous person of £15,000.

This morning the fundraiser stood at £147,000.

In an update on Twitter, Mr White said that any money donated from the evening of December 1 will be given to charity.

At the time of his tweet the fundraiser was at £138,155.

He said: “We are overwhelmed with the support that everyone has given us and cannot thank you all enough. We truly can’t believe how generous and thoughtful all our donors are.

“Every word of support has encouraged us to remain strong and has put a warmth in our hearts that we thought we lost three years ago.

“We feel so incredibly thankful for the money everyone has raised to help us get back to our losses. And thanks to all of you, we have. At this stage I would like to take this opportunity to say to anyone who wishes to donate to the page, we will be passing on any future funds from now to charity, to honour the loss of our baby.

“We will update further information on the page shortly. Again, thank you all so much, it is time for us to move forward and start afresh with the life you have all given us back.”