Custody over crash as pal paralysed

A teenager from Walsall who lost control of a 4x4 he took from work and caused his friend to be paralysed for life has been locked up.

Anthony Dibble from Walsall Wood took two cars in one evening from Aldridge Tyres, returning a Peugeot before taking a Range Rover, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard. The 18-year-old of Salters Road lost control of the bigger vehicle when he drove at more than 50mph in a 30mph limit on June 29. The crash sent Dibble through the sunroof.

His 19-year-old friend Ian Stitch, who was not wearing a seat belt in the back, suffered serious injuries to his spine.

The court was told Mr Stitch had been in The Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries ever since and will need nursing care at a cost of £3,000 a week when he is allowed home.

Another passenger, Peter Evans, was wearing his seat belt and suffered only cuts and bruises.

Dibble admitted taking a Peugeot vehicle without consent, two charges of driving without insurance and the aggravated taking of the Range Rover.

Miss Kanwal Juss, prosecuting, said: "When they took the Peugeot they drove it to Lichfield and put £6.27 of diesel in the vehicle before returning it.

"The others then egged the defendant on to take the Range Rover. He crashed it in Jesse Road after colliding with a Vauxhall van. Mr Stitch sustained broken vertebra in his neck and suffered permanent paralysis. He will never walk again."

Mr Nicholas Smith, defending, said: "I must concede on his behalf that the public would think a supervision order inappropriate for an offence of this nature.

"Mr Dibble has been suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and has suicidal intentions, he is devastated by what his actions have meant for his friend."

Judge Michael Challinor gave Dibble 15 months in a young offenders institution and banned him from driving for seven years and said he must take an extended test.

He said: "Everyone comes out of this case a loser, in every sense it is a complete shipwreck."