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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Martin Naylor & Stephen Pitts

Teen can't walk after motorcycle crash that saw 'best friend' run off and abandon him

A heartless motorcyclist abandoned his best friend who suffered catastrophic injuries after he was catapulted from a stolen motorbike they were on.

Derby Crown Court heard how Orlando Piasecke was travelling at 60mph down a 30mph limit residential street when he collided with a car. His mate and pillion passenger was thrown from the bike and struck a concrete post with such force that he suffered such horrific injuries he can no longer walk.

Without having the right disabled adaptations, the man, discarded by his so-called pal, has to be taken to his local swimming baths each day so he can get a shower, DerbyshireLive reported.

After being released on bail for this offence, the defendant then went on a drug-dealing spree that saw him take a selfie holding a bag of white powder and saying he wished he'd "whacked" a policeman.

Derby Crown Court heard the horrific details of the case (Derby Telegraph / BPM Media)

In a hugely powerful victim impact statement read to the court by prosecutor Victoria Rose, the badly injured young man said: "I was in a coma for several weeks unsure if I was going to live or die and even now, months later, I am unable to walk and I am unsure if I will ever walk again.

"I live with my mum, her partner and four siblings and because of my injuries I live in the living room which means my family are unable to use it. My brothers have to watch TV in the kitchen and although we have a downstairs bathroom it has no disabled facilities.

"This means I have to be taken to the local swimming baths every day to use their bathing facilities. I have lost all independence, I am a shadow of my former self and I am rarely happy, my family think I have depression.

"Orlando was my friend, I would say my best friend and I don't blame him for the accident as I imagine I would have got on the bike on my own free will. But I have since been told that the bike was stolen and I would have never got on it if I had known that.

"I hate Orlando now, I can't believe he walked away, he has not been to see me and while I cannot walk he can walk around freely. That's not what mates do, he just ran away and forgot about me, I never want to see him again."

Miss Rose said the collision occurred in Ilkeston, Derbyshire on Good Friday, April 2, last year. She said Piasecke was travelling at around 60mph when he collided with a car which was pulling out of a junction.

The prosecutor said: "He catapulted himself and the pillion passenger over the front and while he suffered a leg injury and could hop back his passenger collided with a concrete post. Among his injuries were a bleed on the brain, a pelvic fracture, a broken tibia, a broken femur and he developed a bowel infection.

"He was in an induced coma and the prognosis is that he is unlikely to walk again." Miss Rose said after being arrested and bailed on that charge Paisecke then went on a drug dealing spree that saw him caught with £490 cash and a burner phone on the first occasion, £1,000 of heroin and crack cocaine the second time and more drugs and cash on the third occasion.

Miss Rose said on the second occasion he was chased and caught by officers and later told them "I knew he was a copper, I wish I'd whacked him now". She said on the final time police also found a selfie the defendant had taken holding a bag of white powder.

Piasecke, of Nelson Street, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, driving without insurance or a valid licence and possession with intent to supply heroin and crack cocaine. His previous convictions include taking a vehicle without the owner's consent, careless driving, driving without insurance or a valid licence and riding a motorcycle while not wearing a helmet.

Jailing him for six years, Judge Nirmal Shant QC said: "The victim impact statement which has been read out sets out profoundly how his life has been changed by what you did on that day. You are aged 19 and you are a damaged young man that was full of bravado and with little regard for anyone else.

"And in terms of the drugs, to say that you were persistent is an understatement." Chris Brewin, representing Piasecke, said his client had witnessed domestic violence as a child and turned to drug dealing at a young age "as a way to support his family".

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