Stow: A drink driver has been given a second jail sentence after one of hispassengers died 19 months after crash

Ryan Potts ran away from the smash in August 2011 after drinking eight pints of beer, leaving Lucy Asman, then 15, paralysed from the waist down and trapped in the back of his car in Ferry Lane, Skellingthorpe.

In December 2011, Potts, then 19, was sentenced to 20 months in a young offenders institution after he admitted charges of dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol.

Potts was released from custody after serving his sentence but in a rare legal move the case was referred to the Attorney General when Lucy, 17, from Skellingthorpe, died at home in March 2013 from a severe chest infection caused by her crash injuries.

Following a post mortem, the Crown Prosecution Service decided to review the case and charged Potts with causing Lucy’s death by dangerous driving on 6th August, 2011.

Potts, 22, of Sturton Road, Stow, admitted the charge during a hearing at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday and was sentenced to 22 months imprisonment.

Passing sentence Judge Michael Heath admitted it was an “unusual” case but told Potts there was no alternative to sending him back to prison.

Judge Heath said: “You pleaded guilty shortly after the incident to dangerous driving and driving over the prescribed alcohol limit and were sentenced to 20 months custody.”

“Lucy Asman, then in March 2013, died and there is a causative link between the injuries she received in the accident and her death which was tragic.”

Potts was also disqualified from driving for two years and and must take an extended re-test before he can drive again.

Matthew Lowe, prosecuting, told the court Lucy was one of three young passengers in the car when Potts rolled his Vauxhall Corsa car on a bend shortly after 11.30pm.

Potts fled the scene of the crash in Ferry Lane on the outskirts of Skellingthorpe but was stopped by workers at a nearby abattoir.

Mr Lowe added: “Lucy Asman was trapped in the rear of the car. She had to be cut free by the emergency services. “

“She was taken to hospital where it was realised she had suffered catastrophic injuries to her spine.”

“Lucy’s lower limbs were paralysed and there was a significant reduction of sensation in her upper limbs.”

Michael Cranmer-Brown, mitigating, told the court Potts had started to rebuild his life after being released from custody and was working preparing boat covers.