Two young speeding drivers were 'playing a game of follow my leader' and 'egging each other on' before a horror crash on the A6 which nearly killed a student midwife.
Joseph Bostock began following and 'tailgating' Lewis Severn after he 'cut him up' and overtook him. The pair, who didn't know each other, weaved in and out of traffic at nearly double the speed limit on a wet night and were 'creaming it', according to a witness.
Severn, who at the time was serving in the army, then ploughed into a mum-of-two as she crossed the road whilst on a night out in Hazel Grove, Stockport.
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The 29-year-old victim, who previously played for Manchester United and Stockport County's women's teams, and is training to become a midwife, was thrown into the air and was left unconscious and 'barely breathing' in the road. A judge said it was a 'a wonder' and 'miraculous' she survived.
She spent over a month in hospital including in intensive care after suffering a series of serious injuries, the effects of which she is still feeling today.
The men, both 22, have now both been jailed by a judge who said they were 'equally to blame' for the crash.
Witnesses saw cars speeding along road
Shortly before the collision, at around 9:30pm on July 24, 2020, one fellow motorist said Severn's white Vauxhall Astra overtook her 'at high speed' with the black Seat Ibiza being driven by Bostock 'following shortly thereafter.'
Another driver said he was undertaken at speed by the pair. He also claimed the Seat was travelling at such speed that it 'tipped onto two wheels' as it rounded the bend near the American Golf centre.
Both witnesses 'formed the impression that they were racing with each other', Justin Hayhoe, prosecuting said.
The victim, who has no memory of that night or what happened, was out with a friend and had shared a bottle of wine with her in the Wilfred Wood Wetherspoons pub on the A6 London Road.
They then moved to another pub across the road called O'Hare's. At the time the first Covid lockdown had only just ended with all pubs being table service only.
Another friend told the victim that she had arranged for some drinks to be sent to her table in Wetherspoons so she decided to go back to cancel the order.
As she made her way over, she stopped and allowed two cars travelling southbound to pass before quickly making her across the first two lanes of the four-lane road, Mr Hayhoe said.
However, as she was making her way towards the pavement she was struck by Severn's white Vauxhall Astra in the inside of the two northbound lanes. She 'didn't have the opportunity to take any evasive action', Mr Hayhoe said. The Seat drove past in the outside lane shortly afterwards.
Forensic collision reconstruction experts calculated that Severn was travelling at not less than 55mph on the 30mph road, and Bostock not less than 53mph. A judge said had they been travelling at or below the speed limit 'the collision would never have happened.'
Severn stayed and was arrested at the scene. Bostock, who was driving his friend's car, stopped briefly before driving off, the court was told.
He was traced via the car's owner and later told officers in an interview that 'he had not considered that the incident was anything to do with him', Mr Hayhoe said. He told them that although he 'doubled back' he left when he saw people were tending to the woman.
The victim was rushed to Salford Royal Hospital with a number of severe injuries. She had a traumatic brain injury as well as fractures to her spine, pelvis, ribs, arm and two large wounds on her left leg for which she is having on-going plastic surgery.
She was initially treated in intensive care before being moved to a trauma ward and was eventually discharged on August 19.
However, upon release she had to use a wheelchair to get around and had to go and live in her parent's bungalow during her initial recovery, whilst her partner had to give up work to look after their children.
She still has weakness in leg and pain in her back and pelvis, the court was told, and has a 'terrible memory' as a result of the head injury she suffered.
Her midwifery studies have been delayed by a year and she now doesn't know if she will be able to work full-time given the physical demands of the job and her ongoing pain and discomfort from her injuries.
Men 'equally to blame' for the crash
Severn, of Broadway, Offerton, and Bostock, of Pickwick Road, Poynton, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving at earlier hearings.
They were sentenced together at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court on Thursday afternoon.
Kimberley Obrusik, representing Severn said: "What he says is he did overtake Mr Bostock. He cut him up. As a result Mr Bostock, who was unknown to the defendant, they didn't know each before this, then began tailgating him. As a result, both of their speeds increased. It was for a relatively short period of time."
The court heard Severn had been in the army since he was 16 but 'involved himself in taking drugs' and was dishonourably discharged last summer.
However, Ms Obrusik said he now worked for his father's company and there was hope he may one day take over the business. "He's a hard-working young man with a bright future," she said.
She said he was 'genuinely devastated' at the impact his 'stupid and tragic decision' to drive as he did on that night had had on the woman and her family. "He's a man who will never appear before these courts again," she said.
Henry Blackshaw, defending Bostock, described him as a 'secondary participant' who got 'sucked into this driving against his better judgement.'
He said that after Severn overtook him 'driven by immaturity he very, very foolishly decided to try and keep up with him and ended up slip-streaming him and following him closely as he wove his way through traffic.'
However, he said there was a 'substantial distinction to be drawn between two people who might be racing one another in a competitive manner and the situation confronted by Mr Bostock here where he was taking someone else's leave.' "It doesn't excuse his driving but it puts it into context," he added.
He said Bostock, who lives with his parents and his partner, was ordinarily a 'hard-working, law-abiding, dependable, well-loved individual' and that he was well-regarded by his employer after gaining an apprenticeship as a mechanic.
Despite pleas to suspend their sentences, Judge Mark Savill said he had concluded the only adequate punishment was immediate prison terms.
He jailed Bostock for two years and Severn for 22 months due to his earlier guilty plea. Passing sentence, he said before her injuries the victim was a 'ball of energy' and was 'excelling' in her studies. However her and her family's life had been dramatically changed 'certainly in the short and medium term and and to some degree perhaps also in the long-term.'
"This was a meeting of strangers. Young men in two different cars," he told Severn and Bostock. "In summary, what happened was this; It would seem Severn overtook and cut in front of Bostock.
"It seems to me, using this expression deliberately, that Severn you drove off at speed followed closely by you Bostock in a game of follow my leader", adding that it "will have gone on for a not insignificant distance and period of time."
"There was tailgating," he said. "This is an inherently dangerous and deliberate manoeuvre. You could have stopped, one or both of you, and desisted. You didn't. You overtook and undertook other motor vehicles at high speed.
"The driving was deliberate. It was not racing in the sense of trying to beat the other to a particular goal before the other. But it was a deliberate interaction between the two of you, egging each other on.
"The manner in which both of you were driving was affected by and in response to, the driving of the other. You both failed to have any regard for vulnerable road users, that being pedestrians. And the driving created a substantial risk of danger."
Judge Savill added: "I don't differentiate between the driver who collided and the driver who didn't. You were both equally to blame for this collision."
Both men will be banned from driving for three years starting from their release from custody and will have to take an extended re-test in order to get their licence back.
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