Dangerous driver given 12 months

Bridgewater admitted dangerous driving at an earlier hearing

A 19-year-old man from Watergate Bay in Cornwall has been sentenced to 12 months in a young offenders institution for dangerous driving.

Truro Crown court was told Thomas Bridgewater drove a car at a group of people in Porthcothan near Padstow last August, injuring three young men.

He had failed his driving test five times and was driving with only a provisional licence and no insurance.

He was banned from driving for two years and must pass an extended test.

Judge Philip Wassall said the Crown Prosecution Service should have charged Bridgewater with intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm, and that he would have received a "very substantial sentence" as a consequence.

Bridgewater had admitted dangerous driving at an earlier hearing.