A DRIVER has been slammed for his “reckless decision” to take cocaine while at the wheel after his crash left a passenger with life-threatening injuries.

Tyler Cornish, aged 22 and of Cinnamon Lane, Poole was jailed for three years after admitting causing serious injury by dangerous driving and two counts of drug driving.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard Cornish was told to slow down by his passengers and that he “was not a Formula One driver” as he gave three people a lift home from their night out in Bournemouth.

Cornish and two of his passengers sustained minor injuries. A third passenger, a woman who was 18 years old, was taken to hospital for treatment to injuries that were believed to be life-threatening.

She sustained multiple fractures to her spine, fractures to her skull, a bleed on the brain, a fractured jaw, fractured ribs and bruising to her lungs.

PC Craig Jeffery, of the traffic unit, said: “Tyler Cornish’s reckless decision to get behind the wheel while under the influence of drugs resulted in one of his passengers sustaining serious injuries that are likely to have a lasting impact.

“We see all too often the devastating consequences of motorists such as Cornish who drive while impaired through drink or drugs and we are determined to ensure those who pose a risk to themselves and other road users in this way are prosecuted and held to account.

“The message needs to get across that there is absolutely no excuse for driving while under the influence and we will take robust action against those who do so.”

Bournemouth Echo:

During the early hours of Sunday, November 21, Cornish met with three acquaintances in Bournemouth town centre and offered to drive them to Poole.

He was reportedly driving erratically and his passengers asked him to slow down before his car failed to negotiate the Tower Park Roundabout and collided with the central reservation at around 5am.

Cornish was arrested at the scene and a blood specimen was taken for analysis.

It was found to contain cocaine at a presence of 32 micrograms per litre of blood, above the specific limit of 10 micrograms per litre of blood, and 800 micrograms of benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, per litre of blood. The legal limit for benzoylecgonine is 50 micrograms per litre of blood.

Alongside the prison sentence, he was disqualified from driving for four years and six months.

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