Teen driver opened Snapchat seconds before he ploughed into taxi 'at 80mph'
03.01.2024 - 08:25
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A teenage driver opened up Snapchat seconds before he crashed into a taxi, leaving its driver in a coma, after reaching speeds estimated at around 80mph, a judge heard.
A court heard that the day before the smash, Connor Brian, now aged 20, sent a Snapchat video of himself to others - which captured him reversing down a street at around 50mph.
Taxi driver Andrew Clark, who was left in hospital for three weeks and needed emergency surgery, suffered hallucinations where he believed he had died, and had to learn to sit, stand and walk again before returning home to his family, the court was told.
Brian's Honda Civic smashed into Mr Clark's Toyota on September 24, 2022.
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Leeds Crown Court heard on Tuesday, January 2, that Brian had been captured on footage driving the Civic car at high speeds.
Prosecutor Nathan Davis said the then teenager, of Thorp Avenue, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, was at the Denby Dale Working Men's club and left at around midnight when he got into the car with a number of passengers, YorkshireLive reports.
Mr Davis said: "He came into Wakefield Road quickly and was asked by one of the passengers to slow down. It caused him to slow down a bit."
The court was told another car driving in the opposite direction caught the Honda driving along Wakefield Road. Mr Davis said: "The driver noted the defendant travelling well over the speed limit and believed he wasn't going to make the corner and would come across the road and collide with his vehicle.
"He [Brian] overtook a number of people on the road including a man who noted he was doing 30mph when the defendant came flying up behind him. He estimated he was going double