A DANGEROUS driver who seriously injured his two passengers when he crashed his car has been jailed.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Shaun Allan Brown had been "showing off" by performing handbrake turns and wheel spins hours before the smash in the early hours of Sunday, March 15, last year.

The 30-year-old drove his Peugeot 206 "aggressively" as they headed for a nightclub, despite pleas from one of his friends to slow down.

The car left the westbound A693, near Stanley, County Durham, and came to rest on an embankment.

Ian West, prosecuting, said: “One of the victims suffered multiple fractures and has problems with his sight. He feels depressed and it has changed his life."

He added that one of the victims said: "I am trying to look forward now but when I was told about the problems with my sight I had suicidal thoughts. I cannot say how bad I feel, but horrendous is as close as I could describe it. I feel myself hating Shaun and previously we were good friends.”

Mr West said the injured woman has been left with a scar that has damaged her confidence.

Brown, formerly of Westfields, Stanley, and now of Deneside, Lanchester, was found guilty of two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving after a trial at Durham Crown Court in February.

His barrister, Paul Currer, said: “He does deeply regret the injury caused.

“The offending occurred during what was a very difficult time. Three months earlier his young sister passed away as a result of cancer.

“It affected him very deeply.

“He resorted to drugs and alcohol. Fortunately, they were not factors in this case.”

The court heard Brown, father to a three-year-old boy, was subject to a 12 week suspended sentence for producing cannabis, when the crash happened.

He was banned from driving in 2005 for taking a vehicle without consent and again in 2006 for driving without due care and attention and failing to stop.

Recorder Paul Kirtley activated the suspended sentence, which will run alongside his 12 months custody for the dangerous driving offences.

Brown will be banned for driving for two years when he is released and have to take an extended driving test before he is allowed behind the wheel again.

The judge said: “This matter, while it was a relatively short period of driving has had an extraordinarily severe impact on both people injured.

“Fortunately, no fatalities occurred. That is mere good fortune.

“I am aware that this is your first period of incarceration. I am sadly driven to the view that this must be a case for custody.”