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A teenager suffered lifechanging and horrific injuries when his head smashed through the windscreen of a car which was being driven by a man fleeing from police. A court heard the teen was one of three young passengers who suffered serious injuries after Zac Thomas drank vodka in a car park, before racing off from police before driving across a field and hitting a hedge. His use of a car on the day in question had been "akin to the use of a deadly weapon" and she told him he had caused "devastation" by his actions, a judge said, reports WalesOnline. Sian Cutter, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that the incident happened on September 21 last year in the Cardigan area. She said the then 18-year-old defendant was in his VW Polo at a skatepark along with a number of other teenagers, and that he was drinking from a bottle of vodka which he had bought from a local shop. The court heard that two other teenagers at the skate park were invited to join the group in the car and were initially reluctant to do so as they thought Thomas has been drinking. Thomas, however, assured the pair that he would not be driving, so the youngsters got in. The prosecutor said the defendant then drove off, despite pleas from those in the car. For the latest court stories sign up to our crime newsletter The court heard Thomas was driving at speed through Cardigan and at one stage pulled out into the path of a van, almost causing a collision. At around 10pm police officers on patrol in a marked car in the town saw the Polo swerving across the road and signalled for it to stop - Thomas responded by speeding away, and a pursuit ensued. The prosecutor said the passengers in the car repeatedly asked the defendant to slow down and to stop, but he ignored their pleas saying "I'm going to lose them [the police]". The court heard that the pursuit continued onto a single track lane, and that when the Polo crested the brow of a hill the pursuing officers momentarily lost sight of it. When the officers got to the top of the hill they saw the VW had left the road and driven through an open gate, and that it was now driving down an inclined field. The court heard that at that point a rear passenger door of the VW opened and one of the teenage passengers leapt out. The Polo continued to the bottom of the field where it crashed into a hedge and came to a stop. The prosecutor said the police officers approached the car expecting the passengers to start getting out but that as they got close they could hear screams coming from the VW and could see it filling with smoke. The prosecutor said the force of the crash had thrown a rear seat passenger forward and into the windscreen - the teenager's head was sticking through the windscreen with his body still in the car and his neck trapped in the broken glass. The other back seat passenger managed to get out of the car and officers saw she had a deep wound to her forehead. The front passenger had an open fracture to her right ankle and was trapped in the footwell. None of the passengers had been wearing seatbelts. The emergency services were called to the scene and the three injured passengers were taken to hospital. The passenger who had jumped from the moving VW was found in the field with cuts and bruises and in a "disorientated" state. Thomas was found with minor injuries, and after police smelled alcohol on his breath he was arrested and subsequently gave a sample of blood for testing. The court heard that a back-calculation of his alcohol level showed he had 146mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, the legal limit being 80mg. Investigators subsequently found no evidence that Thomas had tried to steer or brake in an attempt to avoid the collision and that the tyre marks on the field showed the car "simply drove in a straight line into the hedge". It has not proved possible to determine the speed of the impact, nor whether Thomas had turned the headlights off as one of the passengers believed he had. The court heard that the passenger whose head went through the windscreen suffered horrific neck and facial injuries along with smashed teeth, a broken nose, and fractured vertebrae. He spent time on a ventilator in intensive care in hospital, had to have a tracheostomy to help him breath, and required multiple operations. In the months after the crash he had to learn how to walk, talk and swallow again, and irreparable damage to the tongue means his speech is impaired. He has also been left with permanent scars to his face and neck, with memory issues and experiencing flashbacks, and requiring a feeding tube in his stomach. In an impact statement read to the court the teenager said he was trying to come to terms with the fact he would "never be the same again". He said he felt like he had been given a "life sentence" and that he would not wish his life or what he had been through on his worst enemy. The court heard that the passenger with the open fracture to the leg had to undergo an operation to fit plates and screws in the joint which included a skin graft. She said the crash and its aftermath "changed everything" in her life and that the loss of her ability to play sports - something which had been a massive part of her life - had been "devastating". She said the crash had not just broken her body but taken her confidence and, for a long time, her hope too. The prosecutor said the passenger with the forehead gash required a total of 23 deep and superficial stitches to close the wound and has been left with a permanent scar. In her statement the victim said she was conscious of her facial scar, was waiting to see a psychologist, and now only felts safe in her dad's car. The passenger who jumped from the car suffered abrasions to his face and body and has been left suffering with nightmares and flashbacks. Zac Thomas, now aged 19, of Rhos y Grug, Bryngwyn, Newcastle Emlyn, had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and to driving with excess alcohol when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions. Ryan Bowen, for Thomas, described the defendant as a "complex individual" and he said following the death of his mother in 2022 his client had entered a "prolonged grief" which saw him "turning to alcohol and other substances to quell the pain of his grief". He said Thomas wanted to express his heartfelt apologies to all those who had been caused pain and anguish by his actions. Judge Catherine Richards told the defendant that his use of the car on the day in question had been "akin to using a deadly weapon", and she said he was responsible for a life-changing event for the passengers in the car. The judge said it was to the credit of the victims that they had all made such efforts to cope with what had happened, and she acknowledged that no sentence a court could pass could compensate for the "devastation" the defendant had caused With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas Thomas was sentenced to three years detention in a young offenders institution comprising three years for each of the causing serious injury charges and four months for the drink-driving charge all to run concurrently. The defendant will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. Thomas was also disqualified from driving for a total of five years and three months.
