A HOTEL assistant manager accused of reaching 110mph on a country road as he fled police in a stolen car was jailed for twelve months on Friday, September 13.

  Judge Huw Rees said the passenger - a 20–year-old colleague of Darren Williams - had leapt from the Ford Kuga when it slowed to about 30mph probably because he was “scared witless” by Williams’s driving.

  Judge Rees told Williams, 27, of Ffordd Manod, Blaenau Ffestiniog, in Snowdonia, it was a “classic joyride” for 21 miles at night in wet conditions. “You drove at grossly excessive speeds of up to 110mph, you negotiated corners on the wrong side of the road and contravened the double white line.

  “The passenger jumped from the vehicle for reasons unknown, hitting the pavement with force, resulting in a serious brain injury. You are lucky there’s insufficient evidence for you to be charged with a more serious offence where the maximum sentence is five years imprisonment.”

  Caernarfon Crown Court heard police found the passenger struggling to breathe and unconscious. His skull was fractured but he was now back with family in the Czech Republic.

   Williams admitted dangerous driving on the A470 after his employer’s vehicle was taken at Capel Curig and driven to Blaenau Ffestiniog, drink driving, being uninsured and aggravated vehicle taking.

  He was banned for three-and-a-half years and must take an extended test. 

  “You behaved extremely recklessly and foolishly,” the judge added. He said :”How someone else didn’t come by serious injury or even death because of your appalling and prolonged driving is only a matter of good chance.”

  Dafydd Roberts, defending, said he acted in a “very foolish” manner and had let down many people.

  Prosecuting barrister Ryan Rothwell said Williams told police he panicked when he saw the police car. A Stinger device was used to stop the Kuga. The couple who employed WIlliams said he had “run a bulldozer” through their family’s life.