Girl suffered life-changing injuries in Norfolk crash

Thomas Procter, 19, had been on his mobile phone just minutes before he crashed his Skoda car on Briston Road near Corpusty.

Norwich Crown Court heard how Procter, then 18, had only passed his test 16 days before the smash which happened in the early hours of July 15 last year.

Norwich Crown Court (Image: Peter Walsh, Newsquest)His then girlfriend, who was a front seat passenger, suffered "life-changing injuries" in the crash from which she is not expected to make a full recovery.

Procter lost control of the car as it drove up a bank and crashed.

Martin Ivory, prosecuting, said Procter had been using his phone - including to check if he still had insurance which was about to expire - in the moments prior to the crash.

Crash scene at Briston Road (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)He said Procter told police - and others - that a second car had been involved in the incident, clipping his car and causing it to crash.

But Mr Ivory said he did tell a friend "there was no other vehicle" and had "made it up to avoid arrest".

He said examination of his phone found there had been "social media activity in the immediate time before the crash took place".

The defendant, who had not slept properly for three days prior to the crash, also said it had been his girlfriend and not him who had been on the phone.

But she denied this and said his driving prior to the crash was "all over the place" with him being "reckless" and "speeding all the time".

Procter, of Guestwick, near Dereham, appeared at court on Friday (September 22) having admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Before he was sentenced the court heard a statement from the victim, who suffered a fractured left femur as well as a degloving of her knee which has needed several operations and is still not been put right despite skin grafts. 

She had flashbacks, suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and now cannot get into red cars.

Sentencing Procter to 24 months in a young offenders' institution Judge Andrew Shaw said it had been an "appalling episode of dangerous driving".

Judge Andrew Shaw (Image: Newsquest)He said that "for a large part of the fateful journey you were on your mobile phone searching for information about car insurance and accessing social media".

He said Procter's behaviour towards his former partner and her family had been "callous" and he had shown a "total lack of regard" for her.

Judge Shaw said Procter had "invented the lie" about a second car being involved, something he had maintained for "quite some time".

He accepted Procter was young and likely terrified about what had happened but insisted "it was time to take responsibility for what you've done".

Stephen Mather, mitigating, said he had been "labouring under the consequences of his driving for the best part of a year".

He said Procter, who had not taken alcohol or drugs, was "shocked" at what happened and now "a very frightened young man".

Procter was also disqualified from driving for three years. 

Speaking after the sentencing hearing, Sergeant Ben Hawkins said: “We welcome this sentence as a recognition of the dangers of anyone who uses their mobile phone whilst driving and driving at excess speed.

“Sadly, in this case a young woman has been left with injuries she will carry for years to come and the offender has made every effort to blame everybody but himself for his poor driving."