Brothers branded 'idiots' by judge after leaving girl, 17, fighting for life following high-speed crash

Harrison Taylor, 19, went "pedal to the metal" behind the wheel of a Mercedes A200 while his older sibling Henry, 21, drove a BMW 135i on Boxing Day 2023.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard both vehicles had been gifted to the pair to help them get over their parents splitting up.

The pair raced around Sandbanks in Dorset, dubbed 'millionaire's playground,' before Harrison lost control on a bend and crashed into the gatepost of a mansion.

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His brother then crashed into the back of him, which catapulted Harrison into a garden wall. Mia Savage, who was in the Mercedes, had to be cut free from the wreckage.

She sustained life-changing injuries including a shattered femur, fractured neck, broken arm, eight broken ribs and severe internal bleeding from a severed spleen, split diaphragm and liver laceration.

The brothers both admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Judge Robert Pawson told the pair that they were "idiots, selfish and immature," and were lucky Mia had not died or they would be looking at more than a decade behind bars.

However, the judge let them off with suspended sentences due to their young ages and previous good character.

The court heard that the brothers had been at a house nearby Canford Cliffs Road with four friends when they decided to go for a ride around Sandbanks in three cars.

The third vehicle was a VW Polo driven by Reuben Smith, whose father works for Mercedes F1.

Miss Savage said she went to get into the Polo but switched to Harrison's Mercedes when he shouted out "don't leave me on my own."

The group set off in convoy but the Polo struggled to keep up with the other two more cars which were travelling at between 80-90mph on the 30mph road, before the crash.

The injuries left her missing on her chosen university because of the lesser grades she got, having missed so much school.

In her victim impact statement, she recalled "drifting in and out of consciousness" and suffering "excruciating pain."

She said: "I wish every day that I had stayed in the car with Reuben and not joined Harrison."

The court also heard from her mother who described the situation as every parent’s "worst nightmare," as she waited for her daughter to be cut free from the car.

She said: "They told me to prepare myself, her injuries were very serious and life-threatening.

"Every time they came with an update I was expecting them to say they had lost her. Thankfully that did not happen."

The brothers were given an 18-month suspended sentence and were banned from driving for three years and handed a 14-month tagged curfew between 8pm and 6am.

Judge Pawson added: "Boxing Day two years ago was a defining moment in the life of Mia Savage, a blameless young woman.

"You two, then aged 17 and 19, driving cars far too powerful for your experience or ability, you are not victims.

"You have potentially ruined another human being’s life with your actions, selfishness and immaturity. Any parent couldn’t help but shudder to imagine the scene Mia’s mother arrived to discover.

"Why did that all happen? Because you two were driving those idiotically overpowered cars and decided to race each other.

"Harrison, a few seconds prior to impact your foot was pressed 100 per cent, pedal to the metal, between 80-90mph. You're an idiot.

"Cases like this have no winners, only losers."