TWO drivers who raced at high speeds and left a woman severely brain damaged in a horrific crash have been jailed.

Motor trader Joel Wharmby raced a high performance sports car against Lee Unwin, who was on a high powered Suzuki motorbike, before crashing into a Renault Clio carrying five passengers.

On impact the Clio was thrown into the air and span around, throwing three women from the back seat into the road.

They suffered life threatening injuries and one, Samantha Butterworth, 33 at the time, was left permanently disabled and remained in hospital for more than 18 months after the accident which happened on Manchester Road, Rochdale, in September 2007.

Unwin, 38, of Oriel Close, Chadderton, and Wharmby, 24, of Victoria Street, Littleborough - who did not know each other - were each given the maximum sentence of two years behind bars for dangerous driving but Wharmby's was reduced to 16 months for entering an early guilty plea.

Unwin was convicted of the offence following a four day trial in March. Both were disqualified from driving for three years.

The court heard how they were both using vehicles which could reach top speeds of 170mph and were travelling at 70mph on a 40mph stretch before the crash.

Unwin was riding a high performance red Suzuki GSX R60 motorcycle when he spotted Wharmby at traffic lights in a Noble M12 GT0, a low-slung sports car,

Manchester Crown Court heard. Prosecutor Robert Smith said: "The two defendants then engaged in an episode of competitive driving.

"The Noble was the first vehicle in the offside lane, with engine revving.

"The motorcycle ridden by Unwin approached the lights, it moved off at speed as though Mr Unwin wanted to compete with the Noble once the lights turned to green.

"Other witnesses described how Wharmby tried to play catch up with the Suzuki by moving into the inside lane."

The Renault Clio, carrying friends home from a shopping trip in Manchester, was turning into New Barn Lane when it was hit by the Noble sports car which Wharmby was delivering to a prospective customer.

Miss Butterworth and friends, Reanne Fraser and Gemma Chauhan, 24 and 25 at the time, were all hospitalised. The court heard they had not been wearing seatbelts.


You have still not faced up to and accepted the gravity of your dangerous driving.
Recorder Paul Reed QC

 
Miss Fraser remained in hospital for two months and Miss Chauhan for seven weeks.

Recorder Paul Reed QC said witnesses had described hearing engines screaming as Wharmby egged Unwin on for a race and Unwin was 'giving it welly'.

He said it was fortunate there had been no fatalities and referred to a statement from Samantha's mother, Susan King, saying: "Mrs King describes in harrowing detail the ordeal she and her family were put through when they expected at first that their daughter, Sam, was going to die but miraculously she pulled through.

"But the disabilities she has means she will never make a full recovery and have a normal sort of life."

He told Unwin: "You have still not faced up to and accepted the gravity of your dangerous driving."

The Recorder said he hoped the sentences would serve as a reminder to others of the penalties they could expect for similar offences.

He also branded the two-year maximum sentence for dangerous driving as "hopelessly inadequate".

Barristers for both defendants said that the three victims had not been wearing seatbelts which had contributed to their injuries.

Two men in the front of the car, who were wearing seatbelts, received either no injuries or minor ones, the court heard.

Pc Martin Slater, of Greater Manchester Police's Road Policing Unit, said: "Neither men knew each other but took it upon themselves to race at excessive speed down a busy road.

"Their stupid, childish actions have ruined not just Samantha's chances of living a normal life, but have greatly affected her family's happiness too.

"The fact Unwin left the scene of this terrible collision, when three innocent women had been thrown from their car, is inexcusable and it is only by the grace of god that no one was killed.

"Driving like they did proves that clearly, Wharmby and Unwin could not have been less bothered about the safety of other road users."