A man who caused a serious car crash that left his girlfriend paralysed from the waist down has been jailed. Kenny Blake, 25, from Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving at Caernarfon Crown Court.
Briony Court, 27, a passenger in the car, suffered extensive spinal injuries and now uses a wheelchair. The crash occurred on the A496 near Barmouth in October 2021. She was initially taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor before spending ten months at the major trauma unit at Stoke hospital.
The court heard that Blake was already disqualified from driving at the time of the crash, a fact Ms Court was unaware of. Prosecutor James Coutts noted that Blake had left the hospital after accompanying Ms Court there. Defence solicitor Deborah White said Blake's best mitigation was his guilty plea, and that he had shown genuine remorse, writing a letter to the court.
However, Judge Nicola Saffman said Blake had tried to blame the crash on a child passenger. She described it as 'the most serious type of driving in the circumstances causing serious injury'. The judge also noted that Blake had sent cruel messages to Ms Court while she was in hospital, taunting her.
Blake, who has 27 previous offences including violence, motoring, and criminal damage, was sentenced to four years and three months in prison and banned from driving for ten years upon release. After sentencing, PC Dan Owen of North Wales Police said: 'Blake showed appalling disregard for the safety of others... This case highlights the devastating consequences of such a poor standard of driving.'
