A YOUNG father left paralysed from the neck down by a "lunatic" banned driver says he sometimes wishes he had been killed in the horrific crash.

Unconscious passenger Alex Everington was pulled from the wreckage of the car before Ian Maughan fled from the scene ahead of the police arriving.

Maughan, 30 – who has 81 offences on a lengthy record littered with motoring matters – later told officers he had not been behind the wheel.

He had traces of cannabis in his system and told a nurse that he had taken a sedative before he crashed off Warrenby Bridge, Redcar, on January 2.

Later in hospital, staff noticed that injured Maughan had trouble staying awake, said prosecutor Jolyon Perks at Teesside Crown Court.

Meanwhile, medics were carrying out life-saving surgery on 29-year-old Mr Everington, who suffered a brain haemorrhage and a broken fourth vertebra.

The back injury has left the father-of-three a quadriplegic, needing lifelong medical help, support from his family, and unable to carry out basic tasks.

His father, Ian, said after the case: "If Alex had died, this would have been difficult to accept for a parent, although I don't know what's worse.

"To watch your son in hospital like this and hear him tell you he wants to die because he cannot imagine not being able to walk is unexplainable.

"At times I feel like my heart has been ripped out . . . I have nightmares about Alex . . . on the evening of January 2, our lives changed forever.

"His daughter, who is now ten, used to love hugs. She is afraid to touch him now because she is frightened she 'breaks him'. This breaks my heart."

Maughan, of Westbourne Grove, Redcar, admitted charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, having no insurance and driving while disqualified.

Judge Howard Crowson jailed him for three years and four months, and banned him from the roads until he takes an "extended re-test" after his release.

The judge told him: "You fled the scene, and I am convinced that was to avoid responsibility because at the police station you claimed not to be the driver.

"The consequences of this case cannot be any less if Alex Everington had died. He has a lifetime of paralysis. His family have a lifetime of caring for him."

Mr Perks said: "It would appear he was responsible for removing Mr Everington from the vehicle, but he then left. He chose to leave the scene to avoid detection.

"Immediately afterwards, he [the victim] was able to recall, as he lapsed in and out of consciousness, asking the defendant not to leave him."

Paul Abrahams, mitigating, said Maughan – who he said was "clearly apologetic" – waited until an ambulance arrived, but did flee before police got there.

He told the court: "For a case involving one victim, there could be no greater level of harm. One cannot begin to imagine the difficulties faced by the family."

A third man – a back-seat passenger, who, unlike Mr Everington, had not been wearing a seatbelt – also escaped the crash and briefly left to raise the alarm.

Experts estimate the Ford Focus was doing double the 30mph speed limit when Maughan lost control and it smashed through a fence and plunged down a bank.

The car rolled over twice before it landed on its wheels, while the passengers had warned the driver to slow and stop driving like "a lunatic".