Talented teenage showjumper weeps in the dock as he's jailed for injuring 15 people in car crash

A talented showjumper with ambitions to represent Great Britain has been jailed for dangerous driving after he smashed his car into 15 people. 

Harlee Pendergast, 18, lost control of a modified Mini One while doing 69mph in a 30mph zone and ploughed into a crowd of fellow car enthusiasts in September last year.

He was jailed for 18 months and wept in the dock as he was sentenced.

Four people were seriously injured in the incident, including one who became trapped under the car. 

Pendergast, of Eltham, south east London, met at night in a car park with other enthusiasts to compare their modified cars at an industrial estate in Strood, Kent.

Kent Police went to clear the group out after neighbours complained about the noise they were making, but moments after two of the officers got out their vehicles to speak with them, Pendergast was seen speeding and swerving towards them.

The car then lost control and shot into the air, according to witnesses, before colliding with 15 bystanders.

Detective Constable David Holmes, the investigating officer for this case, said: "While we accept that Pendergast did not set out to seriously injure people, his reckless and indefensible behaviour put a large amount of people at risk of harm.

"He made a conscious decision to speed through the estate performing dangerous manoeuvres and clearly did not have any consideration for the wellbeing of those around them.

"It is extremely fortunate that those injured did not lose their lives that night."

Forensic evidence suggests that the Mini was driving at 69mph in a 30 mph zone in the moments leading up to the collision. As he got to around 20 metres away from the spectators, he was travelling at at least 47mph.

Gudrun Young, defending, said it was a one-off event which was very much out of character and that Pendergast has not got behind the wheel of a car since.

She revealed the horserider had shown "profound and genuine remorse" and had been on anti-depressants since the accident.

She told the court: "He is a serious, thoughtful, compassionate and hardworking individual who never deliberately hurt anyone.

"This has had a deep and profound effect on him. Not a day goes by that he doesn't think of his victims."

Pendergast  pleaded guilty to four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and one count of withholding information to obtain motor insurance, as he had also failed to inform his insurance company with details of modifications he had made to his car.

Pendergast was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday. He was also disqualified from driving for three years and will have to take an extended re-test.