Boy-racer brothers who left a teenage woman critically injured in a 70mph high-speed BMW and Mercedes crash instructed they face jail
Two brothers who left a teenage girl critically injured in a high-speed crash involving a BMW and a Mercedes were today warned by a judge they could go to jail.
Henry and Harrison Taylor were racing a loop around the exclusive peninsula of Sandbanks in Dorset in a BMW 135i and a Mercedes A200 when one of them lost control while doing more than 70mph.
The Mercedes, driven by 19-year-old Harrison, veered off the road and collided with a gatepost outside a multi-million-pound mansion in Poole, Dorset.
The BMW, driven by 21-year-old Henry, ploughed into the back of the Mercedes – sending it flying into a garden wall.
Mia Savage, a front seat passenger in the Mercedes, was ‘trapped’ in the crumpled vehicle and had to be cut free from the wreckage.
Ms Savage, then 17, was taken to hospital with life-changing injuries.
The two brothers today appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court where they admitted charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Sentencing was adjourned but Judge Robert Pawson told them they could be facing spells behind bars when returning for sentencing in January.
Henry Taylor (pictured leaving Poole magistrates’ court), then 21, was driving the BMW with another friend in the passenger seat
Harrison Taylor, 19, (pictured) was driving the Mercedes with his sister as the passenger during the collision which saw the car Harrison was driving fly in to a garden wall
The horror crash happened at Boxing Day 2023 at around 1am.
The Taylor brothers, Ms Savage and another friend had all been at a property together and left to drive a loop around the Sandbanks peninsula, with a third driver in a VW Polo.
At a previous hearing at Poole magistrates’ court it was heard the brothers were ‘racing’ each other at speeds of more than 70mph on the 30mph road.
David Finney, prosecuting, told magistrates: ‘They all drove onto Banks Road. Footage captured all three on that stretch of road. When they enter the one way section speed increases.
‘V1 (the Mercedes) struck the gatepost of the property 159.
‘V1 was struck to the rear offside by V2 (the BMW), pushing V1 into the wall before both vehicles came to a stop outside the hotel.
‘There were huge amounts of damage to both vehicles from the collision. V2 hit the rear offside of V1 while still airborne in collision with the wall.
‘The Mercedes would have been 0.5 metres off the ground.
Mia Savage, then 17, (pictured) was sat in the front passenger seat when her brothers Henry Taylor and Harrison Taylor crashed their cars speeding around Poole Harbour, Dorset
‘Mia Savage was mechanically trapped with her legs and extraction was required by fire and rescue.
‘She was helicoptered to Southampton Hospital. She sustained life-changing injuries.
‘Eighteen months after, she lives with scarring down the left side of her body, pins in her arms and legs, scarring on her stomach from her chest bone to pelvis.’
The court heard that a screenshot from the Life360 app on a mobile phone showed the speed as 77mph at the time of the crash.
At Poole magistrates’ court, deputy district judge David Hayes told the brothers: ‘It would seem from what I have read, the driving was evidently dangerous.
‘Whilst Mia has not been lucky, both of you in many respects are lucky. This could have been a lot worse, not just for Mia, but for the two of you.
‘You are probably quite fortunate that you did not hurt anybody else and fortunate that Mia is still here.’
Harrison Taylor, a property consultant for an estate agents, and Henry Taylor, a barber, both live close to Sandbanks.
The crash, which involved a BMW 135i and a Mercedes A200, left Mia with life changing injuries after her legs became stuck in the wreckage (Pictured: the scene of the crash)
Having pleaded guilty to the dangerous driving offences, they were automatically disqualified from driving and could face several years in prison for the crime.
Judge Pawson today told them: ‘You are now disqualified from driving. If you step behind the wheel of a car, you will almost certainly be remanded in custody.
‘I’m not suggesting either of you would be stupid enough to do that, but I just warn you.
‘I don’t say this to frighten you, the fact I am granting you bail and directing a pre-sentence report does not mean you won’t necessarily receive a custodial sentence – all options remain open.’
