Speeding Netherton driver who injured three after refusing to slow down jailed for five years
A young driver, who ruined the lives of three friends in a horror crash after ignoring their pleas to slow down, was starting a five year jail sentence today.
Timothy Pascall was doing 83mph in a 30 limit on the wrong side of the road in a stolen car moments before disaster struck, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
The 21-year-old's girlfriend, front seat passenger Lauren Lunn, feared for her life as the black Corsa hurtled towards a hump back bridge in Halesowen Road, Netherton at 5am on March 19, said Mr David Bennett, prosecuting.
She pulled at the steering wheel in a bid to get the vehicle back on track but it was snatched from her grasp by Pascall who then lost control.
The Corsa - on false plates and stolen from Leamington a week earlier - careered broadside across the road so fast it snapped a telegraph pole off at the base, tossing it into a canal.
Ryan Plimmer, a long time friend of the driver, was left close to death while Miss Lunn and fellow passenger Courtney Miller were seriously hurt.
Pascall, who was on bail for an unrelated matter and was breaking a night time curfew, escaped uninjured and immediately started lying to police.
He claimed the driver had 'done a runner' prompting a helicopter hunt for the non existent fifth occupant of the Corsa.
Miss Lunn rejected demands to support his false story which was undermined by CCTV and phone cell site analysis.
Pascall's driving was uneventful until his mood suddenly changed, said Mr Bennett who continued: "He began to drive erratically with eyes bulging, scaring the occupants, one of whom said: 'We are going to die.'"
Mr Plimmer, also 21, suffered a detached aorta, bleed on the brain, torn liver, burst bladder and several broken bones. He has undergone six operations, is confined to a wheelchair and faces up to two years more treatment.
His mother Nadine said she would never forgive Pascall. The other two passengers, both aged 18, also suffered life changing injuries.
The defendant, from Ashfield Crescent, Netherton and of previous good character, pleaded guilty to three charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Judge Michael Challinor concluded: "When you are released Ryan will still be suffering and Lauren and Courtney will still be bearing the effects of what you did to them."
