Chloe Leech had been ‘racing’ and reached 80MPH in a 30 zone before losing control as she overtook a car, causing her BMW to roll over multiple times and injure her friends
A teenager fled by climbed over her injured friend after crashing the BMW she was given for her birthday when ‘showing off’ doing over almost three times the speed limit.
Chloe Leech, then 19, had picked up the car just hours before the horror smash and had taken the gift for a spin at the coast. She had been “racing” with another car on her birthday, Newcastle Crown Court has heard. The teen lost control as she overtook another vehicle, causing the vehicle to roll over multiple times before coming to rest in a field.
One of her passengers, who hasn’t been named, suffered a fractured spine and another was also injured. Now Leech, of Newington Drive, North Shields, has been given a suspended prison sentence. She had picked up the BMW 116 on January 9 2023 and later that day she arranged to meet her friend to celebrate her birthday and show off her new car.
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Joe Culley, prosecuting, said Leech was speeding on the way and her friend said she was bragging “I bet you didn’t feel you were doing 80 in a 30”. The court heard they parked at South Beach in Blyth and encountered others in a VW Golf. Leech continued to show off her car and when she left the car park, the Golf followed her, ChronicleLive report.
Mr Culley said: “They travelled back down the coast. They were racing.” Leech then went to St Mary’s Lighthouse, where she had arranged to pick up two male friends to show them her new car. When they left Whitley Bay, she encountered the Golf again and pulled up alongside it, saying: “Your car is slow.”
She then headed back towards Blyth and her female friend was becoming concerned and telling her to slow down. Mr Culley said: “They then returned to Whitley Bay. She continued to drive at speed, putting the car in sports plus mode.” As she exited a roundabout onto the A193 Blyth Road, she accelerated to catch up the car in front. The driver of that vehicle said she appeared at speed behind her almost out of nowhere and got up close, the woman’s passenger estimating Leech was doing 70 to 80mph on the 60mph road.
Leech’s friend claimed she then climbed over her to get out, leaving her trapped in the car. Leech denied doing this. One of her male friends was left with a fractured spine and cuts to his face. Her female friend was left with pain to her neck, chest, shoulders, lower back and legs. She also had multiple fractures to her teeth.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said: “The car was being driven too quickly. I asked her to slow down and stop showing off but despite these pleas she continued to drive at speed, overtaking a vehicle, looking at the lady she was overtaking and the car crashed, rolling several times before coming to a stop in a field.
“Those moments are things that will haunt me forever. I will never forget being trapped in the car. I couldn’t get my seatbelt off. I think it’s nothing short of cruel she picked up her phone and climbed over me. I was absolutely terrified and couldn’t understand – and still can’t – why someone would leave another person in the car they crashed.
“Thankfully, the other two people in the car helped me and I was helped by strangers at the scene. The strangers’ kindness I will not forget. She left me alone on a freezing cold day. I was absolutely terrified and unable to feel from my waist down.” She added that she needed help with personal care after the crash and had to sleep downstairs for a few months.
The male victim said he had been left with difficulties and lost his job as a result of his injuries. However he was described as being more forgiving towards Leech than the woman. Leech gave police a prepared statement, accepting she was going to fast but saying she was checking her passenger wing mirror to see if she could pull back in and that the car had skidded.
The now 21-year-old, who has no previous convictions and has been allowed to continue driving since, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by careless driving in relation to the male victim and careless driving in relation to the female victim.
Judge Robert Adams sentenced her to 18 weeks suspended for 12 months with 150 hours unpaid work. She was also banned from driving for 18 months. The judge told her: “You were clearly driving too fast and were an inexperienced driver.
“You are very lucky the injuries suffered by you and your passengers were not more serious. In certain circumstances you could well have been described as driving dangerously. It’s just below dangerous driving. You were showing off, in my view and two people were injured. This was a prolonged low standard of driving.”
John Dye, defending, said Leech did not climb over the victim, who he said was trapped because her door wouldn’t open. He added: “She doesn’t accept all of the Crown’s case.
