Two men chugged vodka and inhaled laughing gas before one of them drover a car into a teenager taking his little brother to the corner shop.
Dylan Fryer was in a coma for 11 days after Elliot Watson drove a Vauxhall Astra into the 18-year-old on Battersby Lane in Warrington in October.
Watson and his passenger, Barclay Redford, spent the immediate aftermath of the crash trying to avoid justice while Mr Fryers' parents watched their son fight for his life.
READ MORE: Paedophile filmed himself raping young child then boasted online
A judge told both men today that sentencing limits meant many would be disappointed with the short jail terms they were handed, with 18-year-old Redford sent to a young offenders institution for 10 months and Watson jailed for just under four years.
Liverpool Crown Court heard the two men had been drinking vodka and had bought laughing gas in the run up to the accident on the evening on October 29.
They then decided they needed more alcohol, but the car's owner, Sophie Clark, who is Redford's mum and Watson's partner, refused to drive them and told them specifically not to take her car.
Despite this, they took her keys secretly and drove off anyway.
Watson drove the car erratically and came on to Battersby Lane, a residential road, well over the speed limit.
He then hit Dylan Fryers, who was taking his 12-year-old brother to a corner shop "to buy some snacks" before going home for the evening.
Mr Fryers' little brother was able to get out of the way of the vehicle but the 18-year-old was thrown over the top of the car and left with catastrophic injuries, including a collapsed lung, multiple skull fractures and eight broken ribs.
Most seriously, he suffered from a "shaken brain", an extremely serious form of injury that can cause bruising and damage to the brain, and spent eleven days in a coma.
The long term outlook for Mr Fryer's health is unclear and his mother told the court the accident continues to have a profound impact on the physical and mental health of both her sons.
Watson and Redford drove off and later abandoned the car. Over the next few hours they appeared to be in denial that they could have hit someone during their booze-fuelled drive.
Watson also seemed to voice more concern over the fact that he may be found to have been driving while disqualified than whether he had injured anyone.
Mr Harris said: "When questioned by Ms. Clark, he said he “can’t have hit a person”. Despite her overtures, neither of the defendants went to the police at that time.
"They remained at Watson’s flat and didn’t leave it on the Saturday. Watson said “they will have to prove I was driving disqualified”.
"Ms Clark went back to her house on Sunday morning, 31st October 2021. She again said that the men should go to the police. Watson said he would not go."
They even encouraged Ms Clark to lie for them and say the car was stolen.
Mr Harris said it amounted to a cruel campaign to try to shirk responsibility for the accident.
He said: "The car was unlawfully taken by both men and driven appallingly and dangerously by Watson.
"Redford has taken his mother’s car without permission before.
"The driving into the victim was followed by determined, callous and cowardly efforts by both defendants to cover their tracks and avoid responsibility for their crimes."
Watson and Barclay both have extensive criminal records, with the judge calling Barclay's "one of the worst he had seen in someone so young".
Kate Morley and Rebecca Smith, defending the two men, said there was no mitigation they could offer about the accident itself, which they both said amounted to appalling behaviour on the part of both men.
Ms Morley, defending Watson, said: "Realistically, there is only one point to advance in mitigation which is his guilty pleas, for which I invite full credit.
"He does not seek to cause any further upset or distress and wants the victim to know he is absolutely disgusted with himself, he is sorry and knows he needs to be punished."
Ms Smith, defending Redford, said he had suffered from significant childhood trauma and appealed to the judge to take into account his age when sentencing him.
She said that previous rehabilitation attempts were bearing fruit before the crash and said Redford could change his behaviour if given the correct support.
Both Ms Morley and Ms Smith said their clients were deeply remorseful for what they had done but judge Neil Flewitt, QC, said he had doubted their remorse was genuine.
Judge Flewitt said sentencing limits on the offences the men were charged with meant it was likely many members of the public would feel their sentences were too lenient.
Addressing Watson, he said: "If I could give you a longer sentence than the one I can impose I would do so, but I have no power to do so."
Redford, of Makin Street, Walton, was sentenced to ten months at a young offenders' institution after pleading guilty to aggravated vehicle taking.
Watson, 36, of Smith Street, Warrington, was jailed for 44 months for causing serious injury by dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, aggravated vehicle taking and failing to both stop and report an accident.
In a statement released after today's sentencing, Mr Fryer's family paid tribute to everyone who had helped Dylan in the immediate aftermath of the accident and with his recovery.
They said: "We would like to thank all those involved including the passers-by and neighbours who helped Dylan, as he lay on the road before the emergency services arrived.
"We would especially like to thank the ambulance crews, the police, the air ambulance doctors, Aintree A&E, The Walton Centre ITU, Aintree ITU, Walton Cairns ward, The Serious Collision Investigation Unit, our family liaison officers and our family, friends and work colleagues who have helped us through this very difficult time."
