A student aspiring to join the RAF has been cleared by a jury of causing serious injury by driving dangerously.
Keaton Pattison, who denied the charge, was convicted of the less serious alternative of careless driving and handed a fine plus points on his licence.
Sentencing him at Cardiff Crown Court Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said: “What you did that evening was extremely foolish.”
The court heard the incident happened at around 9pm on June 16 last year on the A4055 Cardiff Road in Dinas Powys in the Vale of Glamorgan .
Prosecutors alleged he overtook on a blind bend forcing an Audi off the road and into the ditch.
The court heard the driver of that car, Natalie Bellion, lost control as her car “fishtailed”. Her passenger Jacob Andrews was left with two fractures to his spine.
In his evidence Mr Andrews said: “I struggle to sleep, I struggle with my job, I struggle even tying my own shoelaces .”
Lucy Crowther, for Pattison, asked the defendant: “It has been alleged you were driving on the wrong side of the road around a blind corner. What do you say about that allegation?”
He replied: “It is false. It had nothing to do with me .”
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Pattison, 24, from Glyn Simon Close in Llandaff , Cardiff, denied causing serious injury by driving his Volkswagen Polo dangerously.
It took the jury of six men and six women just over two and a half hours to return their not guilty verdict on that count. They found him guilty of careless driving.
Judge Lloyd-Clarke said: “Thank you very much for the care and attention you have shown to this case.”
Ms Crowther said Pattison had no previous convictions and a clean driving record. She said he was a mature student and haf gone back to college to do his A-levels, hoping to join the RAF.
The judge told Pattison: “The jury has found that you were at fault but not as much at fault as the prosecution said.
“By means of careless driving you have caused serious distress. That is something you ought to think about long and hard. Motor vehicles are very dangerous.”
She said his driving was “aggressive” and he was travelling at “excessive speed”. Pattison was fined £100 and given nine penalty points on his licence. He must pay £50 towards prosecution costs.
