Teen jailed after crash left passenger’s head through windscreen

A teenager who drank vodka before leading police on a high-speed chase that left three young passengers with life-changing injuries has been jailed for three years.

Zac Thomas, 19, of Bryngwyn, Newcastle Emlyn, was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court after pleading guilty to three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol.

The court heard that on 21 September last year, Thomas was drinking vodka at a skatepark in the Cardigan area when he invited other teenagers into his VW Polo, assuring them he wouldn’t be driving. However, he then drove off at speed despite their pleas to stop.

Police spotted the car swerving across the road at around 10pm and signalled for it to stop. Thomas sped away, telling his terrified passengers: “I’m going to lose them [the police].”

The pursuit ended when Thomas drove through an open gate into a field and crashed into a hedge at the bottom. One passenger had already jumped from the moving vehicle.

The force of the crash threw a rear passenger forward, with his head smashing through the windscreen. His body remained trapped in the car with his neck caught in the broken glass. Another passenger suffered an open fracture to her ankle, whilst a third had a deep forehead wound requiring 23 stitches. None were wearing seatbelts.

The passenger whose head went through the windscreen suffered horrific injuries including smashed teeth, a broken nose, fractured vertebrae, and permanent facial scarring. He spent time on a ventilator in intensive care, underwent multiple operations, and had to relearn how to walk, talk and swallow. Irreparable tongue damage has left his speech permanently impaired.

In his impact statement, the teenager said he was trying to come to terms with the fact he would “never be the same again”. He said he felt like he had been given a “life sentence” and wouldn’t wish his life or what he had been through on his “worst enemy”.

The passenger with the fractured ankle said the crash “changed everything” in her life. The loss of her ability to play sports had been “devastating” and she said the crash had “not just broken her body but taken her confidence and, for a long time, her hope too”.

Thomas, who had 146mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood (nearly double the 80mg legal limit), showed no evidence of attempting to steer or brake before impact. Tyre marks showed the car “simply drove in a straight line into the hedge”.

Judge Catherine Richards told Thomas his use of the car had been “akin to using a deadly weapon” and said he was responsible for a life-changing event. She acknowledged that no sentence could compensate for the “devastation” the defendant had caused.

The court heard Thomas had been grieving his mother’s death in 2022 and had turned to alcohol and substances. His defence solicitor said Thomas wanted to express his heartfelt apologies to all those affected.

Thomas was sentenced to three years detention in a young offenders institution and disqualified from driving for five years and three months. He will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence.