A woman who developed a shock-induced heart murmur after being rammed and left for dead by a joyrider has spoken of her relief after hearing he had been sent to prison.
Rachel Ward, 33, had to be cut from the mangled wreckage of her car after being hit at high speed and doctors said the trauma had sparked a lifelong heart problem.
Scott Fairweather was jailed for 40 months at Dundee Sheriff Court on Tuesday and Miss Ward said she welcomed the decision to lock him up and ban him from driving.
She said: "I am overjoyed with that sentence. I feel like I have gotten justice and I'm definitely going to be celebrating.
"He left me for dead and I had been saying for the last few days that he was going to get away with it, so I am surprised but I'm delighted."
Rachel spent two weeks in Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, after the accident with a collapsed lung and a broken pelvis and she has been left with an ongoing heart murmur.
Fairweather - who had been driving his girlfriend's stolen car - tried to avoid capture by pinning the blame on his friend and changing his clothes in a bid to disguise his appearance.
Sheriff Richard MacFarlane jailed him and said: "You told the police it was your friend who was driving and changed your T-shirt to disguise your appearance.
"You left the scene of the badly damaged vehicles and the driver was trapped and had to be cut out. She was taken to hospital with life threatening injuries.
"This was an horrendous experience and there is no alternative to a custodial sentence." Fairweather was also banned from driving for four and a half years.
Solicitor Douglas Thomson, defending, said: "He volunteers his deep regret for the foolish actions he indulged in on the night this accident took place.
"It is fair to say that a few minutes of folly on his part have had devastating consequences for the driver of the other vehicle.
"He offers his apologies to the victim of this accident for what happened and recognises the serious impact it has had on her life and will continue to have."
The court was told that Ms Ward was left scarred for life and still suffered from flashbacks and night terrors as a result of the horror crash.
The court was shown CCTV footage of Fairweather ramming into her car so hard that she shot off sideways up another street and hit a traffic light so hard that the pole bent over 45 degrees.
Fiscal depute Kirsten Letford told the court that Fairweather had taken Kayleigh Balfour's car without her knowledge and gone out joyriding with his friend Lennon Russell.
She said: "At 12.50 am Rachel Ward was driving her Vauxhall Corsa on East High Street, Forfar. As she passed through traffic lights her offside was struck at speed by the front of the vehicle being driven by the accused.
"He had driven through a red light and the impact projected her car about 15 metres off course into North Street. She mounted the kerb and struck the traffic light pole.
"The impact caused the pole to bend 45 degrees. The accused's vehicle travelled ten metres further. It mounted the kerb and crashed into a wall in the beer garden to the Thistle Bar.
“There was significant damage. The accused and his friend ran off. Police saw both crashed vehicles and a lot of debris scattered across the road.
“The victim was in her driver's seat and it was clear she was trapped."
Ms Ward suffered a tear in her kidney, several breaks to her pelvis, bruising to her internal organs, a collapsed lung and at least three broken ribs.
"Her condition deteriorated so much that she had to spend time in intensive care and her injuries were considered to be life threatening.
"She was left with scarring to her torso.
“It is the doctors' opinion that she has been left with a heart murmur as a direct result of the trauma. She still suffers flashbacks, night terrors and sleep issues."
Fairweather ran off despite breaking his leg in the crash and later tried to blame his friend, but DNA belonging to the accused was found on the steering wheel.
Fairweather, 28, of Easterbank, Forfar, admitted driving dangerously and at speed and ignoring a red light before colliding with another car.
He admitted stealing his partner's Vauxhall Corsa from outside her home in Forfar on 15 November 2020.
He also admitted running off from the scene of a serious road crash, despite having a broken leg, and trying to disguise himself by removing his T-shirt.
He admitted trying to defeat the ends of justice by avoiding detection.
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