John Patrick Harker, 19, caused the accident in the Erddig area of Wrexham leaving one of his passengers seriously injured
A young man showing off caused the van he was driving to crash through the railings of a bridge and end up on its roof in a shallow river below.
The driver, John Patrick Harker, and his four young passengers were injured, one of them seriously.
Harker, 19, denied a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving but was convicted.
He escaped immediate custody at Mold Crown Court today.
The court heard the crash occurred on a country lane in the Erddig area of Wrexham in November 2015.
It was alleged that Harker was showing off and put the handbrake on, causing his father’s van to skid.
One of the passengers, Alicia Furlong, now 18, was frightened and asked him to stop as she wanted to get out of the vehicle.
But he did it a second time and the accident occurred, explained prosecuting barrister Simon Rogers.
Miss Furlong, from Wrexham, was originally unconscious and had to be helped out of the window of the van.
In hospital, she was found to have a broken cheek bone, a cut above the eye and her nose was out of shape.
Judge Rhys Rowlands told Harker, a tree surgeon of Thistle Hill Caravan Park in Harrogate, that people ordinarily went to prison for such an offence.
But there was no suggestion he was driving at speed, there was no drink involved and he was properly insured.
“You lost control, skidded down a hill and went through the railings of a bridge,” said the judge, who called Harker’s driving “irresponsible”.
Harker received a 12-month sentence of youth detention, suspended for two years.
He was banned from driving for two years and ordered to take an extended driving test.
In addition, he was fined £500 with £1,000 costs.
Defending barrister John Hedgecoe said that, as a result of the accident, the defendant had had surgery to his leg and had not yet returned to work with his father as a tree surgeon.
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/john-harker-court-mold-van--12689401
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