DRIVER Thomas Belcher ran from the scene of a crash which left a friend in agony with a broken back, Abingdon magistrates heard.

Shelley Cranshaw, prosecuting, told the court yesterday that Kelly Webb, who also had a fractured shoulder blade, was lying injured in a field for about half an hour before anyone came to her aid.

Miss Webb, 17, told police how she thought she was going to die when Belcher, 19, of Faringdon Road, Southmoor, lost control of his Vauxhall Astra as he sped round a bend on a road off the A420 near Hinton Waldrist on November 22 last year.

Miss Webb, of Blandy Avenue, Southmoor, said: "I remembered him falling on top of me after the accident. A couple of days later he told me that he was concussed and had fallen into a river. I believed him.

"But after hearing what happened I do not bear him any grudges. There's no point, there is nothing I can do about it now. Only he knows what he did that night."

Belcher pleaded guilty to making off without paying for £28.01 of petrol, careless driving, failing to comply with road markings, driving with two defective tyres and failing to report an accident.

He also admitted being in breach of a community service order imposed last year for theft and handling stolen goods. Sentence was adjourned for four weeks for a report to be prepared. He was granted unconditional bail. Mrs Cranshaw told magistrates that Belcher earlier drove off at speed without paying for petrol at a garage in Faringdon.

Belcher spotted the police at the Little Chef on the A420 when he started to speed up and overtake cars, cutting in sharply to avoid oncoming vehicles. He turned off to go to Hinton Waldrist and switched the car's lights off as he continued at about 70mph.

He turned his lights back on but crashed as they came to a sharp right-handbend.

The court heard that the car went sideways before rolling over into the field and coming to a stop when Miss Webb climbed out of a smashed side window.

Another man in the car said he was going for an ambulance but she thought she had been in the field for half an hour before passers-by called for one. Belcher told them she did not need help and ran off.

Miss Webb was off work for six weeks after breaking a small bone at the bottom of her back.

She said: "My back still hurts if I stand up too long but my shoulder is now fine. Doctors say they don't know if I will always suffer pain with it."

After the accident Miss Webb left her job in Botley, where she worked for an insurance firm to take up a job as an office clerk with The Tavern drinks company in Southmoor. But last night the girl said she did not bear Belcher any grudge for leaving her.

I've not really spoken to him since.

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