Brother and sister sentenced over road race that ended in crash

A WOMAN driver lost control of her car while racing her brother and crashed into a van and a wall, a court heard.

Natalie Hoole and her passenger both suffered serious injuries in the collision on Featherstone Lane, Featherstone last March, Heather Gilmore prosecuting told Leeds Crown Court yesterday.

The van that she hit, worth £7,000, was a write off and the wall she knocked down cost £1,900 in repairs.

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Hoole, 26, of Post Office Road, Featherstone, and her brother Jamie Hoole, 23, of Russell Crescent, Ackton, near Featherstone, each admitted dangerous driving.

Both were sentenced to nine months in prison suspended for 12 months with supervision and 150 hours of unpaid work. They were also banned from driving for three years.

Sentencing them, Judge James Spencer QC said it was a miracle more severe injuries were not caused.

He added: “The two of you were racing through Featherstone and were responsible for a very destructive accident.”

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Miss Gilmore said Natalie Hoole and her then boyfriend Chris Williams had decided to go to Castleford and her brother was following in his car.

Mr Williams later told police he noticed in Station Lane in Featherstone Jamie Hoole was closely behind his sister as if pushing her to drive faster.

He said he had asked her to slow down but although she was doing 30mph on the bends she was speeding up to 50mph on straighter parts of the route.

Finally she lost control on a bend in Featherstone Lane, spun on to the other side of the road and hit a parked van, knocking it forward before hitting the wall.

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Mr Williams said he thought he was going to die. He suffered a punctured lung and four broken ribs and had to be cut out of the wreckage.

Olivia Checa-Dover, for Natalie Hoole, said she had shattered her shoulder and had her gall bladder removed following the accident. She was no longer in a relationship with Mr Williams.

Richard Canning, for Jamie Hoole, said he accepted he was too close and they were going too fast which was an “idiotic” piece of driving, but did not accept pushing her to drive faster.