A TEENAGER who was left in a wheelchair after a crash near Uffington’s White Horse said the driver was like a 'boy racer' hours before the crash.
As Andrew Bradley’s trial into alleged dangerous driving continued yesterday one man injured in the crash told jurors he had twice asked the driver to slow down.
Prosecutors at Oxford Crown Court claim that Bradley’s ‘dangerous’ driving seriously injured two of his three passengers, leaving one in a wheelchair.
The 28-year-old of Kingfishers, Grove, denies two counts which allege that he caused serious injury to two passengers – Zachariah Gordon and Courtney Howe – by dangerous driving.
READ AGAIN: A report from the opening of the case.
The crash happened in the early hours of Sunday, October 28, 2018 on the B4507 at Westcot, near Uffington.
As the trial continued yesterday, one of the alleged teenage victims, Mr Gordon, gave his account to jurors.
Recalling the hours before the collision he said he and his then girlfriend Miss Howe were first picked up by Bradley who was driving a Ford Focus ST between eight and nine o'clock that evening.
He said they travelled to Fairacres retail park in Abingdon to meet ‘other car enthusiasts.’
Mr Gordon said he did not know Bradley and added: “I just went along with it, thought it was a good idea at the time.”
Asked how Bradley was driving the car he told jurors: "The best way of describing it was like a boy racer.
"[It was] quite aggressive gear changing, quite sharp and quick turning, excessive speed."
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He told jurors that from his position in the back seat he could see the speedometer and thought he was exceeding 100 mph while on the A420.
Asked how he felt the driving was like to him he said it was 'like a rollercoaster.'
Mr Gordon said that after Fairacres the group of four drove to Tesco where he bought cans of Budweiser and Kopparberg.
He said that he gave Bradley a can of Kopparberg before they left for McDonald's.
It was after this that they drove on towards White Horse Hill, he told jurors.
He described the road as 'very windy, narrow, quite a lot of leaves and debris on the ground' and said it was 'very dark.'
Asked how Bradley was driving he said: "Fairly recklessly for the road type.
"Very fast, fast gear changes and very sharp cornering."
Mr Gordon said he saw the speedometer which read 'about 80 or 90.'
He went on to say that he told Bradley to slow down once while on the A420 and again while at White Horse Hill.
Asked about the crash in which he sustained a serious injury he said the last thing he could remember was the sound of an air ambulance and then nothing for three days.
During cross examination Mr Gordon was asked if it was possible he had read the kilometres per hour reading rather than the nearby miles per hour reading, a suggestion he denied.
He was also asked why he had not sought a lift home from somebody else instead of travelling with Bradley.
Mr Morgan replied: "Most people I know who would have given me a lift would be asleep at that time of night."
The trial continues.
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