A DRUG abusing dad who attacked four children with a hammer before steering the car they occupied into the wall of a Barnsley pub at 92 mph has been jailed for life.

Owen Scott, 29, was said to have been in a temporary psychotic state - brought on by cocaine use - and believed he was being pursued by an ‘evil gang’ before inflicting up to five blows with a hammer to the heads of each of his children, Sheffield Crown Court was told.

He was then seen by an off duty police officer to accelerate on the A629 before ploughing into the wall of the Travellers Inn pub at Four Lane Ends, Oxspring.

Despite the speed of the impact, Scott escaped the wreck with only minor injuries but emergency services found the four children, three of his own and his former partner’s daughter, all severely injured.

All had fractured skulls, thought to have been caused by a hammer which was found inside the car and they had catastrophic injuries.

All four can expect lifelong consequences as a result, two have lost about half their skulls and one will be a wheelchair user for life.

Full details of the horrific incident, which happened in August last year, have never been explained because Scott told doctors and investigators he could not remember any details.

But it is known he left his Southampton home with the children last August, following a period where his behaviour had become erratic, and spent two days driving around before the crash which was regarded as an attempt to kill himself.

That included a trip to the Isle of Wight before travelling to the north west of England and then back to West Yorkshire before ending up in Barnsley.

The court was told he had been a cannabis user from the age of 13 and had spent about £100 each weekend on cocaine from his early 20s.

He pleaded guilty to four charges of attempted murder, of children aged eight, seven, 21 and nine months, along with dangerous driving, at a hearing last month.

The Honourable Mrs Justice O’Farrell imposed a life sentence, with a minimum term of 14 years before he can be considered for parole, along with a two-year driving ban.

She told Scott she had seen no evidence that he would not return to drug abuse in future and because of that regarded him as a potential danger to the public.

Following the crash at the Travellers Inn, which caused £8,000 damage to the building, she told Scott he had made no attempt to comfort or assist the children, or to check whether they were injured.

“The children have sustained very severe life threatening and life changing injuries,” she said.

“The number and extent of the injuries sustained by the children would have required moderate to high force blows.”

The children’s mother was still haunted by hearing the screams of her children when she first visited them in hospital, said the judge.

She described Scott’s actions as ‘a gross abuse of a position of trust’.

“You are their father, in whom they were entitled to rely for love, affection and comfort and in whom they did rely to keep them safe.”

Instead, Scott had ‘inflicted shocking injuries which will have long term limitations’ on the children.

In mitigation, barrister Michelle Colbourne QC said it was accepted Scott’s psychotic state at the time was a result of his own behaviour.

His attempts to harm his children and then himself, had been an attempt to spare them from a worse fate at the hands of a gang he was convinced were following him.