Driver facing jail over Leonie crash in Corsham (From Wiltshire Times)

Driver facing jail over Leonie crash in Corsham

2:19pm Monday 8th February 2010

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A motorist who left schoolgirl Leonie Newbury fighting for her life after a horror smash has been warned he could be jailed.

Jake Taylor pleaded guilty to dangerous driving when he appeared before a judge at Swindon Crown Court today.

The 21-year-old was behind the wheel of a Ford Focus when it was in collision with a wall outside Chippenham community hospital.

Leonie, who was a rear seat passenger, had to be cut free from the car by the fire brigade and was in a coma for three weeks.

Taylor, of Shaw Hill, Melksham, had denied a charge of dangerous driving on Rowden Hill at an earlier hearing.

But he changed his plea to guilty before a jury could be sworn on what was to be the first day of a trial.

Brendan Moorhouse, defending, told the judge that prosecutors had been informed in advance that his client would change his plea so witnesses need not attend.

He said Taylor had pleaded guilty to the charge on a certain basis which had been submitted to the court in writing.

Judge Douglas Field adjourned the case to Friday March 19 to allow the probation service time to compile a pre-sentence report.

But he warned Taylor, who he also banned from the road pending sentence, that he could be facing a jail term when he sentenced next month.

“I am going to ask for the report to consider all options,” he told him.

“The mere fact that I am adjourning this for a report should not be taken as any indication as to the sort of sentence you will receive.”

Leonie, then aged 14, suffered serious head and internal injuries in the crash which took place just after 11pm on Sunday November 9, 2008.

She sustained a fractured skull, broken back and broken pelvis and several internal injuries including a damaged spleen, stomach and bowel.

But the plucky teenager, who lives with her mum and younger brother on The Katherine Park Estate in Corsham, defied many doctors who feared she would not survive.

Within two months, she had almost completely recovered and is now back in classes at Corsham School.

Leonie, now aged 16, was taken to the RUH in Bath after fire fighter used hydraulic cutting gear to free her and was also treated at Bristol Children’s Hospital and Frenchay.

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