A DRIVER in a stolen car smashed into a mother-of-three's vehicle and left her paralysed and brain damaged, a court heard.

Lewis Rigby, aged 23, was jailed for three years and nine months at Bolton Crown Court following the horrific high-speed crash on Bolton Road West in Holcombe Brook.

Clare King, 36, suffered brain damage, a fractured spine and wrist and lost all movement in the right side of her body following the crash. The court heard how Mrs King, who worked in mental health in the NHS, may never be able to walk or talk again, has had the left side of her skull removed and has remained in hospital since the incident.

The court was told Rigby was driving a stolen Honda Civic car and being chased by police when he hit Mrs King's Ford Fiesta on May 31. Police followed the car for eight minutes through Bury, onto the M66 into Ramsbottom town centre and towards Holcombe Brook, where it collided with Mrs King’s car near the junction with Longsight Road.

The court heard how Rigby reached speeds of up to 111mph on the M66 and 90mph in 30mph zones before colliding with Mrs King’s car, which she had to be cut out of.

Eyewitnesses described hearing a ‘massive screech and then a bang’ in the moments leading up to the collision.

Judge Graeme Smith sentenced Rigby to three years and nine months imprisonment and disqualified him from driving for six years and eight months, after he pleaded guilty to serious injury by dangerous driving and driving without a licence or insurance.

Michael Morley, prosecuting, read out a statement from Mrs King’s husband, Joseph.

Mr King, who described his wife as a 'caring and generous woman', said in a statement read to the court: “The actions of the driver have put an end to the life we had built together. She will never fully recover and we will have to live with the consequences forever. My only hope is that the guilt the driver should feel, stays with him for the rest of his life.”

Bolton Road West was closed for eight hours while the emergency services were at the scene and the wreckage from the Fiesta, Civic and a Citroen, which was also damaged, were removed.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is conducting an investigation into the incident.

Judge Smith said: “Mrs King is a mother to three boys, aged five, three and one, not only have you caused serious injuries, you have damaged family relationships. Her children will have no recollection of a fully able mother.

“It is only a matter of luck that other people were not injured.”

Michael Lea, defending, said: “Mr Rigby was 22 at the time of this tragic incident and he bitterly regrets being involved.

“He bitterly regrets what has happened to Mrs King.

“I am sure the guilt, shame and remorse will live with him for the rest of his life.”