Mum tells van of youngsters ‘I’m a nasty b****, I’m not accountable in case you die’ earlier than crash
Faye Dawson, 50, told a van full of kids that she drives “like a bad b****” just moments before she crashed the car as warned the kids “if you die, I am not responsible for you”
This is the moment a drunk and high mother told a van full of children she drives “like a bad b****” moments before crashing at high speed.
Dashcam footage captured five teenagers screaming and begging Faye Dawson, 50, to slow down as she drove at around 80mph. In the video, Dawson boasts: “I am a rally car driver and a b****. You get in here with your life.”
The court heard Dawson left her home in Staffordshire at night before collecting the teenagers. After setting off in a Vauxhall Corsa, she asked them: “Are you buckled in? Because if you die, I am not responsible for you.”
She then admitted: “I am not a safe driver. Right now I am on alcohol and have had a smoke so I am even more f****** dangerous. When it comes to driving, if you are not comfortable do not come in my car.”
Footage showed Dawson swerving between lanes, cutting across roundabouts and driving erratically before losing control. The vehicle left the road, hit the verge and rolled, trapping the passengers inside.
In the moments before the crash, terrified teenagers could be heard urging each other to “hold on” while repeatedly pleading with Dawson to “slow down”.
Dawson later pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. She was sentenced to 14 months in prison and banned from driving for 55 months.
The crash happened in Cheadle, North Staffordshire, in March last year. Judge Richard McConaghy said: “It was a miracle that you did not kill somebody.”
The court heard that four of the five passengers, aged 14 to 15, were injured. One girl suffered a fractured spine.
Describing her ordeal, she said: “I thought I was going to die. I had to have time off school to recover.
“I feel very anxious in vehicles. I have nightmares and flashbacks. I had to live with back pain for six months.”
Another teenager said in a statement: “I felt trapped and terrified. I felt powerless. I remember screaming.
“I genuinely believed I was going to die. I have suffered flashbacks and panic attacks. I was shaking uncontrollably.”
In sentencing, Judge McConaghy told Dawson: “Your appalling arrogance caught up with you. When doing nearly 80mph you lost control of the car and rolled it.
“You injured a number of your passengers. It was a miracle that you did not kill somebody.
“You were recorded shouting about what had happened to your car, not about what had happened to the children who were in it.
“You are lucky that you have been charged with dangerous driving and not causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
“You made a deliberate decision to ignore the rules of the road. Your driving was impaired by the consumption of alcohol and drugs.”
The judge said he was not convinced Dawson had shown genuine remorse.
Defence barrister Robert Holt said Dawson had since withdrawn from society and suffers from PTSD. “She will never drive again, such is the traumatic effect of what took place,” he said.
“She feels genuine remorse and empathy with the people in the car that night. She has no interest in driving again.”
