A TEENAGER whose 90mph early morning drive with friends seriously injured a girl passenger has been sent to a detention centre for 15 months.

Hotel worker James Tew took his mother's Vauxhall Astra and ignored the pleas of his passengers to slow down as he sped along the main Kidderminster to Blakedown road on Saturday, October 28.

The car eventually turned over several times and Rachel Guest was flung out of the back seat. She was on a life support machine for several days and had surgery to remove a blood clot in her brain.

Tew, aged 18, of Hurcott Road, Kidderminster, was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court after admitting the aggravated taking of his mother's car without her consent, dangerous driving, and driving without insurance and a licence.

The case was described by Judge Michael Mott as "every parent's nightmare" where their children were being given a lift home.

He disqualified Tew from driving for three years.

Tew, of previous good character, was taking friends home when he decided to go for a spin on the A456 dual carriageway.

Passenger Steven James pleaded with Tew to slow down after he went into a skid at 70-80mph.

But instead, the speed was increased to 90mph until Tew lost control on a bend and the car rolled over several times. Miss Guest was thrown across the carriageway.

The operation to remove the blood clot had left her with a 12-inch scar on her head. But she was making a good recovery, said Nigel Reader, prosecuting.

Andrew Fisher, defending, described Tew as "a decent young man who had made a very grave mistake".

He felt responsible for injuries he had caused to his friends and had also suffered a hand injury, which had cost him his job at Brockencote Hall hotel, Chaddesley Corbett.

Judge Mott said it was an appalling case of dangerous driving which had come close to killing someone. But he acknowledged that Tew had been frank in confessing his guilt.