By Sarah Dave

AN EARLEY man is facing jail for dangerous driving after a high-speed crash which left one of his passengers blind in one eye.

Carl Graham was travelling at least 20 miles per hour over the limit when he lost control of his Seat Leon and crashed near the John Nike Leisure Centre in London Road, Bracknell, on February 2 last year.

The 21-year-old from The Delft, Lower Earley, was

convicted of dangerous driving at Reading Crown Court last Wednesday and told he could be jailed.

The crash left his friend David Adams, 17, blind in one eye and with impaired vision in the other – destroying his hopes of becoming a courier driver.

The rollerblading, go-karting and motorbike fan from Wildridings in Bracknell

had enjoyed a night ice skating when he and his friend Melissa, waiting for her mum to pick them up, decided to get into Carl Graham’s car to get out of the cold.

Mr Adams, now 19, said he was “happy” about the result of the court case and was brutally frank about how that night, when Graham “took it too far”, has affected him.

He said: “It’s not the same

as it used to be, everything’s different to what it was,

nothing’s the same.

“I feel different in my head, I feel depressed quite a lot.

“One eye I can’t see out of and the other eye I see out of part of it.

“I seem to manage, but it’s hard work.

“I won’t be able to be a driver now, I feel sad. I don’t really get upset about it, I tend to keep it all in.

“I can’t really go out without a mate or getting a lift off dad – I’ve lost my independence totally.”

He added: “No, I can’t forgive Carl Graham.”

Mr Adams, of Wildridings in Bracknell, is now hoping to start rehabilitation treatment.

Outside the court, mum Debbie Woollam said: “It’s been very stressful.

“The whole time David was in hospital, for seven weeks, I never left his bedside. He was terrified.

“It was a massive head injury, he was trapped under the car with his legs hanging out.

“We got there just as the ambulance arrived and David was walking around – some people had pushed the car off him – he was covered in blood and all he kept saying was, ‘Sorry, mum’.

“He hasn’t come to terms with it, he won’t have a white stick.

“It’s awful when you wave and he can’t see to wave back – little things like that make me want to cry.

“He wanted to do courier

driving. It’s devastated him,

but his friends have been absolutely brilliant.”

David’s brother Chris, 18, added: “Carl Graham didn’t deliberately set out to hurt David, it was an accident, but we want to see justice done.”

The family are making a

compensation claim to help with Mr Adams’ rehab needs.

Mr Graham and his other

passengers, his friend Danny Baker and Mr Adams’ friend Ms Bull did not suffer such

devastating injuries after the 11pm smash.

Reading Crown Court heard the conclusions of accident expert Anthony Reading, who said that while the front seat occupants had been wearing seatbelts, it was unlikely those in the back were strapped in.

Mr Reading also concluded Graham was travelling at least 20mph over the 30mph speed limit and Mr Recorder Cooper said he concluded: “The car lost traction, began to yaw, at which point control had been lost because of the speed.”

The defendant denied

driving dangerously. Mr Recorder Cooper reminded jurors Graham said in the

witness box he was a “nice chap and it was not nice to refuse to take his passengers for a spin”. He denied he was showing off.

The jury unanimously

convicted him of the single charge.

Mr Recorder Cooper

disqualified him from driving and adjourned sentence for reports to November 4, adding: “The jury decided your

driving was dangerous on that February night.

“I’m disqualifying you from driving from today, the length will be decided at the next hearing.

“As a result of your driving, someone was badly injured.

“I’m bound to take into account that injury occurred. That means I must warn you custody is one of the options I will have to consider.”

Graham is on unconditional bail. His parents did not wish to make any comment.