By Isabelle Bates,Rob Kennedy

Copyright birminghammail

A woman has avoided an immediate jail term after she left two of her friends injured in a nasty car crash. Chloe Leech was celebrating her 19th birthday when she took her pals out for a drive in her new BMW. A court heard she had been “racing” with another car on before she lost control as she overtook the vehicle, causing her car to roll over multiple times before coming to rest in a field. READ MORE: Morrisons customers with these jobs handed 10% discount in store Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp , click the link to join One of her passengers suffered a fractured spine and a second was also injured, Newcastle Crown Court heard. And now Leech, of Newington Drive, North Shields, has been given a suspended prison sentence, CronicleLive reports. Leech had picked up the BMW 116 on January 9 2023, and arranged to meet her friend to celebrate her birthday and show off her new car. The two women went to Tynemouth for some food and Leech then suggested they go for a drive and they headed to Blyth. 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. 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 to 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. With the road ahead bending sharply to the left, limiting the view of the road ahead, Leech went to overtake the car. Mr Culley said: “She was not focusing on the road ahead but looking out of the passenger window at the car she was overtaking.” As she overtook the car she lost control, mounted the kerb, hit a lamp-post and the car rolled over multiple times, landing in a field. 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. She also said she has been left with PTSD and added: “That night will stay with me forever. I can’t forgive the lack of remorse from Chloe, from leaving me in that car to not sending me a message asking how I was. “I only wish I never got in the car that night.” Leech disputed a lot of the matters raised by her former friend, the court heard. 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 too 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. “She’s sorry for the incident, she’s sorry she’s lost her best friend, she’s sorry that best friend has attempted to aggravate the sentence. “Maybe the victim’s personal statement should be taken with a pinch of salt.” Mr Dye said inexperience lay behind the offence and added that Leech is in full-time employment as a payroll officer.