Victim’s dad slams ‘Pound shop gangster’ as ‘waste of skin’ after fatal crash and years on the run
Euan Corbett fled the country after causing the death of his friend Shane Finn in a horror crash but justice has finally caught up with him
A “pound shop gangster” who fled the country and evaded justice for years after causing the death of his friend has finally been jailed. In May 2020, the now-convicted killer driver took a bend in the North York Moors at over 100mph in his Audi A3, causing the car to “bounce twice” and killing his friend Shane Finn.
But instead of handing himself in, Corbett went on the run and taunted police and Mr Finn’s family from afar, posting on Facebook in 2023: “You had your chance now I’m gone.” Georgia Dixon, Mr Finn’s partner, said that Corbett made a mockery of the grieving family’s plan.
When charged with the crash that claimed Mr Finn’s life, he fled the country and ‘swanned around Europe’ and Asia. While abroad, he ordered associate drug dealer Brad Anderson to ‘hit’ a house in Middlesbrough, days before a quad bike pulled up outside and a shotgun was fired at the windows in July 2023.
A trial heard that he also asked him to “ping” and “blow in windows” of various other properties belonging to people he claimed owed him money. Teesside Crown Court was told earlier this month how Corbett told Anderson he was “chilling” in Snapchat voice notes, and said he made his money on his phone “buying stocks, gasses and oil and stuff”.
He was finally caught in March this year after three years on the run, TeessideLive reports. TeessideLive previously reported that Corbett was ‘being held by authorities in a Turkish prison’.
On Thursday, he was finally served justice by Judge Jonathan Carroll, who described him as behaving like “some third rate pound shop wannabe-gangster” before jailing him for a total of 15 years and two months.
Horror North York Moors crash
Due to Covid restrictions, Shane Finn died alone in hospital days after the crash on Knott Road, north of Rosedale Abbey in North Yorkshire. The court heard how Corbett’s Audi A3 left the road and “bounced twice” before it overturned.
He had tried to negotiate a bend at over 100mph on May 2, 2020. Mr Finn, Corbett’s passenger and friend, was airlifted to James Cook University Hospital but died of his injuries two days later.
Another car had stopped at the scene to help Mr Finn, but Corbett lied to the driver, telling her not to say he was there when emergency services asked who was at the scene of the crash. He claimed another man had been driving and had then fled the scene, something the court heard had distracted the police investigation.
A collision expert later found that Corbett was driving at speeds between 100mph and 120mph. Stephen Finn, Shane’s father, stood up to read his statement in court.
He told Corbett: “You are a heartless, thoughtless man – you should stay locked up. You’re a waste of human skin and not fit to be in society.”
Shane’s partner, Georgia Dixon, said she had “barely become a mother, when my daughter lost her father”.
Detective Constable Ellen Lowe, from North Yorkshire Police’s Major Collision Investigation Team, said: “The past five years have been deeply traumatic for Shane Finn’s family. Not only have they had to endure the tragic loss of Shane at such a young age, but Corbett has cruelly and selfishly prolonged their wait justice for his terrible actions while seemingly enjoying life on the run overseas.
“The prison sentence handed to him reflects the sheer harm he has caused in both North Yorkshire and the Cleveland Police area. Our thoughts remain with Shane’s loved ones who have shown immense dignity throughout the investigation.”
‘Ola baby’
Corbett was due to stand trial at York Crown Court in 2022, but instead breached bail and fled the UK. Police launched an urgent appeal for help in tracking him down and were stunned to find Corbett had posted pictures of himself with a toy gun in Malaysia.
Interpol had issued a red notice for his arrest. In 2023, Corbett posted a video on his Facebook page which showed him walking through a field, then following a man, then on a boat.
At the end of the video, Corbett, who is wearing sunglasses, an Under Armour t-shirt and a zip-up jacket, turns the camera to himself and says: “F*** you Interpol, in a bit.” The video ends with Corbett saying: “Ola, baby” and is captioned: “Seems my claim to innocence didn’t make the media but everything else has – here’s one for you Interpol put this in your pipe and smoke it.”
“You had your chance now I’m gone”. Corbett’s Facebook page stated at the time he was living in Hanoi, Vietnam; but from Middlesbrough. Teesside Crown Court heard on Thursday how, during the riots, Corbett posted on Facebook that he would pay £500 to anyone “who sent him video evidence of setting police cars on fire”.
In March, the 26-year-old is said to have been detained near the Iranian border and was being held by authorities in a Turkish prison. An anonymous source told TeessideLive that Corbett is said to have lost weight during the weeks in detention and was living on a diet of bread and water, but was said to be “on top of the world, as always.”
The source said: “The conditions are absolutely appalling, there are 16 of them in a cell all sleeping on the floor.” Corbett was extradited back to the UK and hauled before York Crown Court in July.
He pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, causing death whilst uninsured and having no licence; and breach of bail.
‘I need that hitting please mate’
When he admitted causing Mr Finn’s death by dangerous driving, Corbett, who was investigated by Cleveland Police following a shooting in Middlesbrough, denied conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. It followed an incident in Liverton Avenue, in Middlesbrough, in the early hours of July 5, 2023.
His co-accused drug dealer Brad Anderson, 32, formerly of Nut Lane, Middlesbrough, was jailed for 10 years in September 2024 for possession with intent to supply heroin and cocaine, and conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. Corbett claimed voice notes over Snapchat to Anderson, who was in the UK, had been “misinterpreted” but a jury took just two hours to find him guilty of the single charge following a two-day trial.
Days after Corbett’s request, two males pulled up outside the house on a quad bike. The passengers disembarked and after some initial difficulty, fired a shotgun at the house, smashing the living room window.
The homeowner was upstairs watching TV in bed at the time of the incident. Teesside Crown Court heard over a series of voice notes in June 2023 that Corbett ordered homes to be targeted in relation to three people who owed him money.
He said: “Yeah bro, get them windows blown out for me” in a voice note after asking Anderson to get the address of a man who Corbett said owed him £13 from a thunderball on Facebook. He said the house on Liverton Road needed “hitting” because a “f***ing cheeky c***” hadn’t repaid a £200 debt.
In later voice notes, Corbett asked to get another “house pinged at” claiming someone owed him £900.
Cleveland Police’s Det Insp Matt Hollingsworth, senior investigating officer on the case, said: “Corbett was already on the run, trying to evade capture from police, when he ordered the attack on the house, which was sparked over him being owed a small amount of money.
“It is unthinkable the lengths he would go to over a relatively small disagreement, and even worse is the sheer disregard for what could have happened to anyone inside that property. Officers from Cleveland Police and North Yorkshire Police have worked tirelessly and carried out a thorough investigation to ensure that Corbett was located and returned to the UK to face justice for what he has done, and I am pleased that he is now behind bars for a significant length of time.”
‘Like a loan shark’
Justice finally caught up with Corbett on Thursday, who had his head in his hands as he listened to proceedings from prison via video link. His barrister read out a statement from his client – he wrote that he wanted to let Mr Finn’s family “know how sorry I am”.
He said that Shane “was his friend” and he “misses him dearly”. Judge Jonathan Carroll told the court that Mr Finn will miss his daughter’s “first tooth, a child growing up into a young woman” because of Corbett’s “selfishness”.
He added: “I accept that Shane Finn was not wearing a seat belt but that was not the cause of his death. The speeds you were driving at over the North Yorkshire moors were truly shocking.
“You set about making excuses not to accept responsibility. As Shane was fighting for his life, you did not call an ambulance. You invented another driver.”
Judge Carroll said that Corbett had spent three years swanning around Europe, and rejected his apology, telling him: “I, on behalf of the family, want to make it clear that are no signs of remorse from you. You fled the country, prioritising yourself over anybody else.”
Over the shooting, the judge described Corbett as behaving like “some third rate pound shop wannabe-gangster. Like a loan shark, ordering another to shoot the windows of people who owed you a few quid – in your fantasy gangster lifestyle.”
Corbett has also been given a four-year driving ban which starts from when he is released from prison.
