A drunk driver grinned on camera moments before he smacked into a wall and fled the scene leaving his passengers – one in the boot – suffering ‘horrific injuries’.
Dylan Crocker, 20, was more than twice the limit when his Blue Ford Fiesta spiralled out of control in Wolviston, near Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire last year.
Shocking footage shows Crocker laughing and dancing to rap music while sat in the driver seat of the vehicle in the early hours of April 21.
The car hurtles along the road before impact at which point the 20-year-old escapes from the vehicle and sprints down a local homeowner’s drive in the dead of night.
Groaning passengers are left alone and can be heard screaming out in pain as police arrive on scene.
Dylan was sentenced on Friday last week to 30 months in a young offenders’ institute and handed a 36-month driving ban at Teesside Crown Court.
Two passengers were dismissed from their jobs due to their injuries which included a shattered pelvis, detached spinal chord, broken ribs, and nerve damage, the court was told.
In police body-worn camera footage Crocker can be seen initially denying all knowledge of the incident, saying he ‘has been drinking’ but ‘hasn’t been driving a car’.
A roadside breath test then returns a result of 70 – twice the legal limit.
Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Constable Rachael Johnson, from Cleveland Police’s Collision Investigation Unit, said: ‘This crash was horrific and has had long-lasting effects upon those involved, leaving some with both severe physical and psychological suffering.
‘I welcome the sentence handed to Dylan Crocker and hope it sends a stark message to all drivers that taking risks with lives can have devastating consequences.’
In a victim impact statement read to the court a 20-year-old woman who suffered a shattered pelvis said she has been told to ‘expect pain’ for the rest of her life.
The other passenger dismissed from her job required spinal surgery and suffered broken ribs, nerve damage and had to learn to walk again.
Both also said they had seen a significant impact on their mental wellbeing – with one male passenger adding he now didn’t want to ‘go out’ following the event.
Members of the public helped administer first aid to the injured passengers until emergency services arrived, also pointing police towards the location of the driver.
Crocker failed to provide a further evidential sample for analysis after failing the roadside breath test and pleaded guilty to three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and having no insurance.
DC Johnson said: ‘Crocker was an inexperienced driver who was under the influence of alcohol – he had also been driving at more than twice the speed limit and he was not wearing a seatbelt.
‘In a video recording taken moments before the collision, he was also clearly distracted – not one but all of the ‘fatal four’ factors have been evident in this collision.
‘This collision has certainly completely changed not only the lives of the injured passengers, but also those of their families.
‘I’d like to express my thanks to those members of the public at the scene who assisted the passengers until emergency services arrived.’