A driver caused her passenger horrific head injuries when she raced along a narrow lane in her BMW at 80mph before being launched into the air and then nosediving down an embankment onto the beach below.
Macauly Boswell-Morgan's badly injured rear passenger was trapped in her wrecked car but Swansea Crown Court heard she appeared more interested in removing a bottle of vodka and cannisters of laughing gas from the crash scene than in his welfare. While 25-year-old Boswell-Morgan walked away seemingly uninjured a passenger sustained a catalogue of serious head and spine injuries and had to spend three months in hospital.
A judge said if the defendant had not had primary caring responsibilities for her young son, the sentence she was to receive would be very different.
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Helen Randall, prosecuting, said on the night of June 25 last year Boswell-Morgan and two male friends were driving around various locations in Pembrokeshire in the defendant's BMW. The evening passed without incident until around 10.45pm when they got to Fort Road, a long straight road which runs from the centre of Pembroke Dock down to a car park and the sea.
The prosecutor said the defendant suddenly accelerated as she drove along the road, hitting around 80mph as she sped down the dead-end street. She said both passengers in the car became alarmed at the way she was driving and told her to slow down but Boswell-Morgan did not respond.
Without making an attempt to brake or swerve the defendant drove straight into a low wall at the end of the road which caused the vehicle to launch off the ground, clear a 6ft anchor on the foreshore, and "nosedive" down an embankment and crash onto the pebble beach below where it landed on its side.
The court heard the crash was heard by a group of teenagers who were socialising near the beach and who rushed to the scene, as well as by an off-duty policeman who lived nearby and who went to help. Miss Randall said the rear passenger of the BMW was trapped in the wreckage but Boswell-Morgan and her front seat passenger "appeared to be more concerned about removing a vodka bottle and canisters of laughing gas" than in helping him.
It was the off-duty officer who went to aid of the stricken passenger, removing an obstruction from the bleeding man's mouth and throat so he could breathe more freely and supporting his head until paramedics arrived. When medics and firefighters arrived the trapped man was cut from the car and intubated - had a breathing tube fitted - before being rushed to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
Boswell-Morgan was arrested and interviewed, and answered no comment to most questions asked but did confirm she had been driving and said she could remember nothing after turning onto Fort Road. The court heard the driver had cannabis in her system but at a level below the drug-driving limit. Read about two young drivers racing at 100mph on a busy road who caused an horrific head-on crash.
The prosecutor said the casualty suffered serious brain injuries and multiple skull fractures as well as fractures to the lumbar spine in the crash, and spent a total of 13 weeks in hospital during which time he developed a number of infections.
In a statement read to the court the victim outlined the physical and psychological impact of the crash, an incident which he said had "turned my life upside down". He said he was still in severe pain as a result of his injuries, no longer wanted to socialise with his friends, suffered with memory issues and depression, and was waiting to hear from the DVLA about whether he would ever be allowed to drive due to the injuries he had suffered. He said there had been times when he had wished he had died in the crash, and he said the situation had been extremely difficult for his mother who had had to care for him.
Macauly Boswell-Morgan, 25, of Nelson Street, Pennar, Pembroke Dock had previously pleaded guilty on a basis to causing serious injury by dangerous driving when she appeared in the dock for sentencing. The details of the basis of plea were not set out in court. She has no previous convictions.
Ed Mitchell, for Boswell-Morgan, said the rear passenger in the car had not been wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash but the judge, Paul Thomas KC, pointed out that ensuring passengers in cars wear their belts is just as much the responsibility of the driver as it is the passenger themselves.
The barrister said the defendant simply could not explain why she had driven the way she had. He said his client was a single mother of a young child with "significant developmental issues", and the crash had happened on a rare night out away from her parental responsibilities. He said Boswell-Morgan had come to court with a packed bag ready for custody and while she was fearful of the prospect of prison was even more fearful of the impact a custodial sentence would have on her young son who relied upon her. He invited the court to pass a sentence that was suspendable - that is one of two years custody or less - and to suspend it.
Judge Thomas said he took in account everything that had been written about the defendant in a detailed pre-sentence report and everything said on her behalf by her counsel, but had to balance that with the very serious injury she had caused. The judge said sending the defendant straight into custody would have a devastating and life-long impact on her young son - though he acknowledged the devastation caused to the victim of the crash. He said "not without misgivings" he was prepared to suspend the prison sentence.
With a 20% discount for her guilty plea Boswell-Morgan was sentenced to two years in prison suspended for two years. She was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work in the community, and was banned from driving for two years. Judge Thomas said he had found it a "very difficult sentencing exercise" and said were it not for the defendant's young son who was dependant upon her "this would be a very different sentence".
The prosecution said it would offer no evidence to the charge of being unfit to drive through drugs which the defendant had also originally been facing, and the judge recorded a formal not guilty verdict for that matter.
Judge Thomas said the actions of the off-duty police office who helped the trapped passenger were to be commended.
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