A teenager who was driving a high-powered BMW at speeds over 140mph when he slammed into the back of a taxi, causing catastrophic injuries to the cabbie, has been jailed. Max Dangerfield was driving to a gym in the early hours of the morning "in order to release frustration" when he ploughed into a cab which was taking two young women home after a night out. The taxi driver suffered broken ribs, bleeds on the brain, a punctured lung, and a lacerated liver in the crash.
Police pursuit and crash
Shortly before 4.30am on January 25 last year, two police officers in an unmarked car were heading westbound on the A48 near Cross Hands at around 70mph when a black BMW M 140i overtook them at a speed in excess of 100mph. The officers activated the blue lights on their car and began to accelerate after the BMW but soon lost sight of it. They accelerated to the maximum and reached a speed of 120mph but still lost ground on the vehicle they were pursuing.
The officers continued westbound before coming across debris in the dual carriageway and then finding a badly damaged Toyota taxi on the nearside verge. The two young female passengers in the back of the cab were able to exit the taxi, but the driver was unresponsive and trapped in the mangled car. As the police officers tended to the cabbie, a motorist who had been driving behind the police car when they were both overtaken by the BMW arrived on the scene. He went over to the BMW which had come to rest on the opposite carriageway. The BMW was "extensively damaged" and when the motorist "pulled back the deployed airbag he expected to find the driver dead" - instead he found 18-year-old Dangerfield chatting on his phone.
Injuries and data
Firefighters freed the taxi driver before he was taken to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff where medics found seven broken ribs, multiple small bleeds on the brain, a bruised and punctured lung, and a laceration to his liver. The casualty underwent a number of procedures and operations before being discharged on February 1. He was deemed medically unfit to drive meaning he could not return to work.
Download data obtained from the German manufacturer of the BMW's airbag showed the car had been travelling at 141.67mph at the point of collision, but a forensic crash investigator who examined tyre marks at the scene concluded the vehicle had been traveling in excess of that speed prior to the collision. Checks also showed Dangerfield did not have insurance.
Victim impact and sentencing
In a statement from the taxi driver which was read to the court, the cabbie said the crash had had a "huge affect" on him and his family. He said he had been confined to bed for six months after the incident and been unable to wash or care for himself or to play with his children, and said "no painkillers can touch the pain". The victim said he had always prided himself on working hard to provide for his family and said when he was eventually able to return to work as a self-employed cabbie it was on a part-time basis. He now only takes jobs local to the Swansea area and does not like working at nights. He added that he hates to think about what would have happened if police hadn't been in the area and got to him quickly.
Max Oliver Ianto Dangerfield, now aged 20, of Cwmllethryd Ganol, Swiss Valley, Llanelli, had previously pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has one previous conviction from August last year which relates to the no insurance matter. Megan Williams, for Dangerfield, said on the night in question the defendant had become emotional after an argument with a friend and had decided to "drive to the gym in order to release his frustration". She said her client now realises that "he was not in a fit mental state to drive". The barrister said Dangerfield wishes to apologise to his victim and would welcome a chance to meet him face-to-face in an act of restorative justice if that was appropriate.
Judge Huw Rees said in the early hours of the morning of January 25 last year the defendant had been "driving at an extreme - and in my view, unbelievable - speed" when he collided with a taxi. He said it was "inexplicable" to the court why someone would want to drive at such speeds let alone why a car would be capable to achieving those speeds. With a one-third discount for his guilty plea Dangerfield was sentenced to 28 months detention in a young offenders institution. He was banned from driving for 50 months and must pass an extended test before he can get a licence.
