Teen whose car ploughed through campsite and tent with baby inside learns fate

A teenager who admitted crashing his car through campsite and hitting a tent which had a baby sleeping inside has been spared jail.

Several people were injured and taken to hospital as a result of the crash which saw Jack Hale leave the road in Newgale, Pembrokeshire, on August 12, 2023. The 19-year-old, from Haverfordwest, was driving a Ford Fiesta and had passengers in the car when the crash took place. His car went over a ditch and rolled into tents, including one which had a baby asleep inside at the time. The baby escaped serious injury as it was in a cot, according to the campsite owner following the incident.

The car veered into the campsite just after the point where the speed limit changes from 60mph to 30mph. Today, Hale appeared at Swansea Crown Court for sentencing having already pleaded guilty to four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving at Haverfordwest Magistrates' Court earlier this year.

READ MORE: GPs won't write sicknotes to sign you off work under new rules

READ MORE: Walworth tower fire LIVE: Over 70 firefighters tackle blaze in 17-storey building

The court heard how Hale, who was then 17, had only passed his test three weeks before the horrific crash. Georgia Donohue, prosecutirng, said there were five passengers in the car - including one sat in the lap of the front-seat passenger.

Judge Huw Rees handed down a sentence of 20 months' youth detention, suspended for 18 months, and told Hale to complete 15 rehabilitation days and 250 hours of unpaid work. He also banned Hale from driving for two years and ordered him to take an extended driving test.

"This is undoubtedly a serious offense, as you well know, and I'm entirely convinced that aspect is not lost on you at all," the judge said. He described Hale having five passengers in his car as "inappropriate and even reckless in itself".

"You were a new driver, a novice driver, having only obtained a full driving licence some three weeks before this offence," he said. "You drove so fast in the circumstances that you lost control of your vehicle, causing it to hit the curb, turn on its side landing on a tent and travelling over many other tents.

"One of the tents contained a two-year-old and another a baby. Miraculously, and thankfully, neither child was harmed but that's not thanks to your driving. That was pure good fortune. The reality is that you could have killed people."

Ms Donohue told the courts of the experience of holidaymakers Emma Lewis, Daniel Staniforth and Paul Warburton - who were sat outside their tents socialising when the crash happened just before 11pm. Dan Staniforth was socialising with friends on the campsite in west Wales with his little boy Sonny asleep in the family tent just a few feet away.

The airborne Ford Fiesta flattened the tent but toddler Sonny escaped the "carnage" because he was protected by his £25 travel cot. Ms Donohue said: "They heard a loud screech and turned to see the Ford Fiesta drifting sideways towards the campsite.

"The car travelled towards the campsite and hit the lip of the curb and flipped onto the side. As this happened it landed on a tent. The car travelled over multiple tents, one of which contained a two-year-old child. The vehicle then ultimately carried on and collided with the three complainants and landed on a tent which contained a young baby.

"Emma Lewis, Daniel Staniforth and Paul Warburton were all pinned under the car and unable to move. The complainants were pinned under the car for a number of minutes, until a number of bystanders were able to turn the car on its side and eventually free them."

They suffered a range of injuries, including a dislocated hip, rib and pelvis fractures, and third degree burns, and were left requiring surgery. The fourth injured person was one of Hale's passengers, Oliver Copeland, who suffered fractures to the vertebrae in his neck. In total nine people were hurt.

Miss Donohue said: "CCTV of the incident appeared to show that the vehicle was travelling at excess speed downhill before negotiating the off-side bend. As it negotiated the bend, the defendant lost control of his vehicle and it was catapulted into the adjacent campsite, rolling several times before coming to a stop."

She said collision investigators had concluded Hale was driving at 66mph before slowing down to 55mph as he lost control entering the 30mph zone. There were no faults found with the car. Hale told police the Fiesta hit a rock - which are often thrown up onto the road by the tide - causing the car to slide.

Dyfed Llion Thomas, defending, said Hale had written to the victims to apologise for his actions. He said: "The remorse here is genuine. The fact of the matter is, he is still a young man.

"Unfortunately, a young person who has just passed his test three weeks before this incident gets involved in driving in a manner in which he should not have driven. He has wholeheartedly accepted what he did was wrong, and wholeheartedly accepted that others have suffered because of that.

"He has not driven since this incident. But, the fact of the matter is, I doubt he will ever get in a car for the rest of his life without remembering what happened."

Sergeant Sara John, of Dyfed-Powys Police, said: "This was a deeply traumatic incident for all the victims involved and continues to have a profound impact on them. Hopefully today's sentence provides an element of closure to those affected and serves as a reminder of the consequences of dangerous driving."

After the crash, witnesses told of the horror moment the car landed on the tent, prompting around 15 emergency service vehicles to arrive on the scene. Husband and wife Glen Mills, 48, and Michelle Nali, 42, were staying in a tent around 30 yards away. Mrs Nali told Wales Online: “[A woman] was just screaming 'my baby, my baby'. That was the worst thing for me, the screaming from the lady. But luckily the baby survived."

Her husband added: “It was carnage. You wouldn't believe it. It was like somebody had set a little bomb off. There was stuff everywhere like broken seats and blood and people screaming. There was a woman screaming for her baby. There was a chap sat on the floor with blood pouring out of his head. There were a couple women tending to him.

“We heard the commotion and heard the car skid and go over. It's an unusual sound isn't it so I wasn't really sure what it was. I've run over as people are running across the field with their torches on. When I got there the car was on its wheels and the guy was underneath it with his legs sticking out. So instantly, I grabbed the front wing of the car and was screaming at people to help me lift it.

"There was a chap in a tent that was next to it that the car literally just missed and he was next to me on the driver's door. Then some others joined in on the back. There was about five or six of us and we turned it on it's side. They dragged him out from underneath the car after we'd lifted it on to its side. I then dropped to my knees next to him and put my hand on his head. I was thinking 'Is he alive, is he alive?'”