Towton crash: Racing drivers who were 'hurtling' through North Yorkshire villages with cars full of girls jailed

Ben Spink, 20, and RAF serviceman Harry Greenall, 18, reached speeds of over 90mph in a 'race' on the A162 which was caught on Greenall's own dashcam.

The footage shown to York Crown Court at their sentencing today included clips of dangerous overtaking manoeuvres on country lanes on July 30 last year.

When they reached the village of Towton, Spink's Ford Fiesta lost control after striking a traffic island when he tried to overtake Greenall's Vauxhall Corsa and he collided with a parked car and then a garden wall.

The four girls travelling in his car were all injured, with one, Jessica Fraser, fracturing her spine and having to have surgery and metal rods inserted.

Judge Sean Morris rejected pleas from both men's solicitors to spare them prison sentences and jailed Spink for 14 months and Greenall for 10.

Senior aircraftman Greenall, of Riccall near Selby, is likely to be discharged from the RAF, where ironically he had won awards for flight safety, while Spink, of Boston Spa, Wetherby, has lost his job as a merchandiser with body armour provider PPSS Group.

The court was told that Spink also had a previous conviction for being drunk and disorderly and assaulting an emergency worker, and had received a community order for disclosing a private sexual photograph without consent. Greenall had a clean record.

A total of eight teenage girls were split between the two cars, with most being friends of Greenall's girlfriend who had been socialising in Tadcaster. Victim impact statements were read out from Jessica Fraser and two more of Spink's passengers, rugby player Niamh Romans and college student Lauren Selby.

The girls had commented on the initial journey from Tadcaster to one of their homes in Sherburn that Spink was 'driving like an idiot' and that they felt uncomfortable with his speed.

On the way back to Tadcaster in the early hours, the court was told that the 'standard of driving dropped further' and a top speed of 94mph was recorded on the dashcam. They were travelling through village 30-40mph zones at 76mph and at one point Spink narrowly missed hitting a car turning right as he attempted to overtake Greenall.

After the collision on Main Street involving Spink's car, the speedometer was found stuck at around 80mph in a 30mph zone. All five occupants were taken to Leeds General Infirmary with various injuries.

Niamh Romans said she was 'very traumatised' by the crash and believed she was going to die. Jessica Fraser had to spend three months in a wheelchair and may require further surgery to fit metal plates which could remain in her body for the rest of her life. Lauren Selby developed a fear of travelling in cars which has left her with a reduced social life, a reliance on bus routes and unable to visit family members.

Both men were initially charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving but magistrates accepted Greenall's guilty plea to a lesser charge of dangerous driving, although Judge Morris said the race was a 'joint enterprise' in which both were equally responsible for the outcome.

Spink's defence counsel said he wanted to apologise to the girls involved and was now suffering from PTSD and depression while Greenall's lawyer said his client was 'ashamed' of the incident.

Sentencing, Judge Morris said: "It is just down to luck that these girls are still alive. It was undoubtedly a race. You were hurtling through villages. The crash could have happened to either of you and in my view you should have been jointly charged. The culpability is almost the same."

Spink was also banned from driving for two years and seven months and Greenall for 17 months.