JAILED: High-powered car driver handed sentence after father left in a coma following head-on crash

Gareth Reckord, aged 28, was driving his Subaru Impreza at high speed along Goldthorn Hill, Wolverhampton when he tried to overtake the car in front on him.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard Reckord clipped the car and crashed into a Vauxhall Corsa coming in the opposite direction that was being driven by Tarsem Hira.

As a result of the smash, Mr Hira, 42, a rapid response engineer for Network Rail, received multiple injuries requiring a seven-week stay in hospital.

His injuries were so severe that he has been unable to return to work in the 11 months since the incident and still requires constant medical care.

The court was told Reckord was returning home from a night out with two friends at the time of the crash at around 3.30am on April 16 last year.

Mr Paul Spratt, prosecuting, said the defendant became impatient at the speed the car in front of him was travelling at.

"He decided to overtake and increased his own speed," said Mr Spratt. "But he had failed to notice the vehicle travelling in the opposite direction."

The court was told Reckord's speed was likely to have been between 54mph and 58mph at the time of impact.

The prosecutor added: "This was a very significant collision causing extremely serious injuries to the victim."

A 'public spirited' pedestrian who had witnessed the smash supported Mr Hira until an ambulance arrived rushed him to hospital.

Mr Hira suffered a fractured vertebrae in his upper back, a fractured cheek bone, severe bruising to his chest, a lacerated liver and his right leg was broken in three places.

He also suffered a collapsed lung, which meant surgeons had to perform a tracheotomy in order to gain access to the area.

The court heard doctors feared Mr Hira may have also suffered a serious brain injury, although no lasting damage was found.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Hira said because of his injuries he still struggles to walk and may require a hip replacement.

Mr Spratt concluded: "It is safe to say the incident has had a dramatic effect on Mr Hira."

Th court heard that Reckord, who worked as a delivery driver at the time of the incident, claims to have no recollection of the smash.

He had to be cut free from the wreckage of his car by emergency services and was subsequently hospitalised for four weeks.

Describing his client's actions as 'utterly stupid and utterly unforgivable', Mr Gurdeep Garcha, defending, said Reckord had written a letter to his victim expressing his sorrow over the incident.

He added: "He will have forever now to live with the consequences of what he did. That burden has proved to be a heavy one for him that has left him a broken man."

Reckord, of Lea Road, Wolverhampton, was jailed for 32 months. Judge Amjad Nawaz told him: "You came within a hair's breath of facing a much more serious charge of death by dangerous driving."

He was also banned from driving for five years.