A DRIVER who ignored his girlfriend’s pleas to slow down has been banned after he injured her in a head-on crash with a bus.

Christopher Rabbage lost his temper before deliberately putting his foot down on the accelerator of his Ford Fiesta as he drove victim Bethany Bray through Newton Abbot.

He came up behind a van too quickly, slammed on his brakes, and skidded onto the wrong side of the road on a blind corner. 

Exeter University dance and drama student Bethany suffered a broken thigh bone in the head-on collision which forced her to drop out of her course for a time.

Rabbage, now aged 21, was just 19 at the time and also suffered serious injuries, which required plates to be inserted into his face to rebuild shattered bones.

He was driving Bethany on the road towards Totnes in the early evening on April 7, 2017, when he suddenly accelerated near Baker’s Park, saying: ‘F*** this.’ He was going around 45 to 50mph when he crashed. 

Traffic engineer Rabbage, of Elizabeth Square, Newton Abbot admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving and was jailed for 12 months, suspended for two years, by Judge Peter Johnson at Exeter Crown Court.

He was also disqualified from driving for two years and ordered to take an extended re-take before he is allowed back on the road.

The judge said he was suspending the sentence because of Rabbage’s otherwise blameless record, his remorse, and the fact he is working hard to look after his new partner and their baby daughter.

He told him: ‘This was a bout of temper which caused a relatively short-lived period of stupidity. The one aggravating feature was the failure to heed the warnings to slow down which Bethany gave you.’

Miss Emily Pitts, prosecuting, said the accident happened at around 7pm when Rabbage’s car hit a double decker going towards Newton Abbot.

Miss Bray was trapped in the car and airlifted to Derriford Hospital, Plymouth. She told police: ‘I felt something going into my leg. It was surreal. I remember looking down at my leg and thinking I was going to lose it.’

She made a victim personal statement which revealed how she was a scholarship-winning student of dance and drama who had to put her course on hold as a result of her injuries.

Mr Martin Salloway, mitigating, said Rabbage was very young at the time and has matured a great deal in the two years it has taken to bring the case to court. He now has a job and a 14-week-old baby with his new partner.

He said:’He is a thoroughly decent, hard working, young man.’