A Wrexham teenager suffered life-changing injuries including brain damage when an overloaded car crashed into a tree.
Most of the six people in the Corsa, which had been taken without consent, were hurt, with some suffering serious injury, Mold Crown Court was told today.
Joshua Weeks, a young man with strong academic qualifications and a bright future ahead of him, remains in a neurological unit with brain damage and has to relearn basic things like walking and talking.
The driver of the car, Tristan Jerome Roberts, 18, of Third Avenue, Gwersyllt, received 12 months detention after admitting aggravated vehicle taking, careless driving, having no insurance and not driving in accordance with a licence.
Roberts himself suffered a brain injury in the crash and attended court on a crutch.
One of his passengers, Aaron Lee Lloyd, 18, of Queensway, Gwersyllt, received an eight-month sentence suspended for two years after he admitted the aggravated taking of his mum’s Corsa.
He had earlier driven it in a supermarket car park but, at the time of crash in Llay New Road in the early hours of February 6, he was sitting on the lap of a rear seat passenger and was thrown out of the vehicle.
The court heard he had given up his front passenger seat position to Mr Weeks, 18, who sustained the most serious injuries in the crash.
Roberts and Lloyd, who were 17 at the time of the crash, were banned from driving for 12 months.
Prosecutor Michael Whitty said Mr Weeks had been transferred to hospital at Stoke where he was treated for serious injuries including a fracture to the base of his skull, extensive facial fractures, and damage to the brain.
He had spent 13 weeks in critical care followed by a period in the specialist trauma care ward.
The victim was now in a specialist rehabilitation unit to deal with the effects of the brain injury.
Mr Whitty said that, after the two defendants took Lloyd’s mother’s car while his parents were away for the weekend, they drove around the Wrexham area and picked up four passengers.
Roberts later lost control on a bend and struck a tree side on.
Judge Geraint Walters said Roberts had not even received any driving lessons at the time of the crash.
Referring to Mr Weeks, who worked at Wrexham Football Club, the judge said: “The reality now is that he will suffer life-long, permanent, debilitating injuries, and all because you two decided to take a potentially lethal piece of machinery on to the road that you were ill-equipped to manage.”
The judge said Roberts, who had previous convictions, was fortunate to have been charged with careless driving.
“In my judgement, this driving was bad,” he said.
“Driving at excessive speed on a bend while the car was dangerously overloaded is obviously dangerous.”
Henry Hills, for Roberts, said his client appreciated that his behaviour had a devastating effect and profound consequences for all concerned, in particular for Mr Weeks.
He was genuinely remorseful and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, he said.
Ian Barnes, for Lloyd, said his client took full responsibility for the taking of the vehicle.
He had behaved responsibly at the “horrific” accident scene and went back into the vehicle to unlock a door so that one of the others could be released, said Mr Barnes.
see-http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/wrexham-teens-sentenced-after-crash-11924502
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