Dangerous driver who fled horror crash while passenger was trapped in car is jailed

A dangerous driver who fled a horror crash while his passenger was still trapped in the car has been jailed for more than three years.

Reece Page, 27, lost control of a Mini Cooper and smashed into a brick wall leaving a 22-year-old man in the back seat stranded with life-changing injuries.

Page had been in a nearby Wetherspoon pub in Hailsham, East Sussex, when he got behind the wheel of the vehicle he had not been given permission to drive.

He was also only a provisional licence holder and was not displaying L plates at the time of the collision just after 1am on 26 February last year.

After careering into a wall, Page ran away from the scene, police said.

Firefighters cut the 22-year-old man from the vehicle before paramedics rushed him to hospital.

Page had been given the keys to a vehicle by another man and decided to drive despite being warned not to.

At Lewes Crown Court on Friday, he was jailed for three years and nine months after admitting causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Page, from Hailsham, was also banned from driving for five years and 10 months once he is release from prison.

PC Lloyd Archer from Sussex Police's Roads Policing Unit, said after the hearing: “Page’s actions were reckless and selfish.

“He showed no regard for his passenger who has been left with life-changing injuries.

“Outside the pub, he had been warned not to drive by a friend, and he was not given permission to drive the car.

“But he ignored these warnings, causing devastating consequences.

“He caused both himself, his passengers, and other road users a serious risk of causing serious injuries or worse.

“Page will have to think about his behaviour from his prison cell. We are pleased that a dangerous driver has been taken off our roads.”