A teenage driver who left her friend with a broken spine after losing control and crashing into a tree has escaped an immediate jail sentence.
Alicia Page-Dove, 19, was playing with her phone and speeding as she gave two friends a lift home from a night out in Chippenham on 1 November 2020.
She lost control of her Volkswagen Polo and veered into a tree alongside the A420 in the Grittleton area – leaving her passengers injured.
Page-Dove, who had held a driving licence for just nine months, admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Appearing before Swindon Crown Court on Monday (17 January) for sentencing, Judge Jason Taylor QC said that the defendant had no idea how close a run thing his deliberations were on whether to send her to prison immediately.
He said it was “solely good fortune” that her friend was not paralysed as a result of her broken spine. Her other friend did not suffer any significant injuries.
Page-Dove also needed treatment for a pelvic injury, which has resulted in metal rods being inserted into her pelvis.
In a victim statement read to the court, one of the passengers said: “We began driving through Chippenham and we began going quite quickly, I was feeling uneasy at this point.
“Throughout the journey, she regularly looked down at the phone. The defendant then turned up the music to full volume and was looking down at the phone when she approached the bend.
“I thought if we don’t crash at this corner we’ll crash at some point before we get home.”
Mitigating, Andrew Nuttall said that Page-Dove, of Upper Redlands Road, Reading, struggled with a “combination of her age and mental health issues, and the fact she is essentially unsupported.”
Adding: “She was at a very low ebb in her life. There was no one else there to counsel her.
“She’s not seeking to excuse her actions. This is a young woman struggling to live with what she has done.
“This has been hanging over her head for a very long time and has been having to live with this for every hour or every day.”
Sentencing, Judge Taylor said: “The consequence of your actions were serious. All of you were injured, but the most serious was your rear seat passenger. That could easily have resulted in paralysis and it is solely good fortune that she did not.
“I recognise that you are facing mental health issues and you would lose your university place if you lose your liberty today. Irrespectively, there are serious consequences today.
“The appropriateness of custody is powerful, but given your age and the prospect for change, I am narrowly convinced that immediate custody is not the only option. But you have no idea how close a run thing this was here.”
He sentenced her to a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years and imposed an 8pm-7am curfew for eight weeks.
She must do 175 hours of unpaid work, and 20 rehabilitation activity days.
She was also banned from driving for four years. Page-Dove must take an extended driving test to gain a new licence.
Addressing the curfew, Judge Taylor said: “If you breach your curfew, I will be told about it. It is designed to stop you going out with your friends, because I know that will be hard for you.
“Take it seriously, because if you don’t, the presumption is you will go to prison.”
