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A teenager towed two of his friends on their push bikes while riding his motorbike at 30mph causing one of them to suffer a serious brain injury.

Kyle Jones, 18, was described as “immature and inexperienced” at Cardiff Crown Court after he towed two of his friends, who were on their push bikes, on his motorbike outside the Leekes store, in Llantrisant , on April 28 this year.

The court heard that one of the friends Jack Nicholas, who was 16 at the time of the incident, suffered “catastrophic” injuries after he lost control of his push bike and fell onto the road, hitting his head.

He suffered a serious brain injury as well as multiple fractures to his cranium. The victim was treated at the scene by a medical registrar who was passing by and he was taken to hospital where he received treatment.

Victim left in wheelchair

Prosecutor Heath Edwards told the court that seven months after the incident, Jack has very minimal ability to move and is in a wheelchair.

Mr Edward added: “He is likely to be so forever.

“He has extremely low fatigue after 10 minutes of exercise and he can’t lift his left arm past his head.

“He has no hearing in his right ear and limited hearing in the left.

“His left eye has limited vision and there is a small impairment to vision in his right eye.

“He now functions as a nine to 10-year-old. He’s simply described by his mother as not the person he was.”

Handed himself in

Jones, who was 17 at the time of the incident, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He was sentenced to 12 months detention in a young offenders’ institute.

The court heard he handed himself in to police.

In April, he had only passed a basic driving test for motorcycles and only passed his full driving test in July, after the incident.

Defending Jones, Peter Woodall told the court his client was aware of the gravity of the situation and of the consequences that had arisen.

He added: “He (Jones) wants me to apologise to the victim and the family. He feels genuine remorse and shame.”

'Obviously extremely dangerous'

Sentencing, Judge Neil Bidder QC told Jones that his lack of driving experience and immaturity had contributed to the incident and that, while he was not the only person responsible for what had happened, he was the person in control of a dangerous vehicle.

The judge added: “You towed two children on their push bikes on your motorbike with a speed up to 30mph, which was too fast to be towing two push bikes.”

He added: “What you did was very obviously extremely dangerous.

“The risk you took was obvious to everyone and to you.

“The injury to Jack was a life-changing one and at one time it was feared he would never survive.

“He has been left with physical, cognitive, and communication difficulties which will lead to life-long problems.

“Although Jack’s parents are pleased they still have their son they have a different child to the one they had before the accident.

“This was very close to being an accident where death could have occurred.”

Jones, of Clark Street, Treorchy , was also disqualified from driving for three years and six months.

'Glad it’s over'

Speaking after the hearing, Jack’s mum Leanne Nicholas said: “We’re just glad it’s all over and we can move on.

“As a parent, we just wanted an apology by way of a guilty plea. It wasn’t about how long he got, it was about him showing remorse about what he’s done to our family.

“He’ll have three years off the road to think about the consequences of his actions.

“We just want to get Jack home from hospital soon but he’ll have to have personal assistance for years and years.”