Norfolk: George Taylor, 19, who crashed into woman while driving with his knees jailed

A teenager who filmed himself driving with his knees before crashing – paralysing a mother from the neck down – has been jailed for two years and two months.

George Taylor, 19, of Stretham, Cambridgeshire, recorded five videos of him driving a Volkswagen Golf at speed with his knees on the steering wheel.

Norfolk Police said he had his licence for less than 12 weeks on 18 January last year, and made two phone calls and sent text messages while driving.

At around 11am, he crashed into the back of a Skoda Fabia waiting to turn right in front of him on the A47 at East Tuddenham, having failed to see it.

The other driver – a woman named Catherine aged in her 40s at the time – was left paralysed from the neck down as a result of the collision. The mother now requires lifelong care.

Norfolk Police noted Taylor previously pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

In a statement released via the force, Catherine’s family said she “has always been such a gregarious person with a great sense of humour and so full of life”.

They added: “I’ll never forget that day when we were told she had been in an accident and then arriving at the hospital to be facing the reality that we may lose her.

“To hear that my only daughter may not survive was heartbreaking and, as her dad, all I wanted to do was make everything better for her.”

Taylor was sentenced to two years and two months in prison at Norwich Crown Court on Monday.

The teenager was also banned from driving for 40 months and told he must take an extended driving test before he can drive again.

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Sergeant Callum Walchester said that Taylor “didn’t set out… intending to cause unimaginable injuries to another person but sadly that is exactly what he did”.

He added: “George Taylor made multiple decisions to use his mobile phone that day and in doing so put himself and everyone else at significant risk.

“It was Catherine who has paid the price.”