A DRIVER whose friends were seriously hurt in a horror smash has been sentenced to a £400 fine after he was cleared of driving dangerously.

Jurors at Bournemouth Crown Court agreed that Mitchell Knight, 23, had not been dangerous when his Renault Clio swerved and left the A337 just north of Lyndhurst at around midnight on Monday, April 29, 2013.

The defendant was instead convicted of two counts of driving without due care and attention after admitting he had been driving at speeds of "between 65 and 70mph" on the rain-slicked stretch of road that night.

The car, which belonged to Knight's mother, skidded and collided with a tree at an estimated 60mph, before ending up on its roof in a ditch, the court had heard.

Three passengers travelling in the vehicle suffered serious injuries and were treated in intensive care for several weeks.

One, Liam Blake, was left paralysed as a result, and will require care for the rest of his life, the hearing was told.

Speaking through a video link on Tuesday, Mr Blake - who is confined to a wheelchair - said he had warned Knight to slow down "seconds" before the crash, adding that the defendant had been driving at between 80 and 90mph.

However, this was denied by Knight, and his barrister Ian Bridge said to Mr Blake: "Mitchell doesn't remember you saying anything to him about the speed or warning him about the speed and he would say you're mistaken about that."

Jurors had earlier been shown a video of police interviewing Mr Blake and his mother Sheilagh as the casualty lay in a hospital bed with the blinds over the windows drawn.

Asked about her son's injuries, Ms Blake replied: "There is a lot of praying. We just pray."

She added: "We are waiting for a miracle."

Knight told jurors he had seen "eyes" that he believed were those of "a deer or a fox" in the undergrowth beside the road when he swerved.

"I saw what I believed to be an animal or eyes at the side of the road," he said.

"I was surprised, shocked. Then I pulled the steering wheel over to the right."

Knight said he had become depressed following the crash, and attempted to take his own life.

Asked if his driving had fallen "far below" the standard of careful driving, he replied: "Absolutely not.

"It was not dangerous driving."

Prosecuting during the trial, Andy Houston said there were road signs warning of animals in the road for three miles placed a mile-and-a-half away from the scene of the crash.

"The speed limit is 60mph and you have accepted that you drove between 65and 70mph - do you still maintain you have done nothing wrong?" he asked.

Knight replied: "I didn't see it as dangerous.

"It wasn't a dangerous speed for that sort of road. It was completely straight."

The defendant, of Hepworth Close in Southampton, suffered a broken wrist and bruises in the crash.

He had denied two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

At a sentencing hearing yesterday, Knight was fined £200 for each charge, and his licence was endorsed with nine points.

If he fails to pay his fine within three months, the defendant faces a seven-day prison sentence.

He has also been ordered to pay £100 prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £40.