A man who left his friend trapped in a burning car was today branded ‘despicable’ by a deemster.

Carl Daniel Moore of Jubilee Terrace, Douglas, has been handed a 20-month jail sentence for causing serious bodily harm by dangerous driving at the Court of General Gaol Delivery.

The court heard that, on August 14, 2021, Moore, aged 36 was the driver of a car involved in a collision that caused a life-changing injury to one of his two passengers.

Prosecution advocate Hazel Carroon said that Moore was driving at around 76mph when his car collided with the roundabout, became airborne and hit a tree before coming to a stop on the opposite side of the roundabout, where it caught fire.

Deemster Graeme Cook said that it was only ‘good fortune’ that there was nothing coming the opposite direction.

Moore and the front seat passenger then escaped from the car and fled from the scene, leaving the backseat passenger in the burning vehicle.

Witnesses called 999 and the backseat passenger was taken to hospital.

In a victim impact statement, the passenger who was left in the car said that he used to consider Carl as a good friend.

The statement continued: ‘I am thankful for people who stopped, I think that if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be here.

‘Carl left me to die, he only thought about himself when he fled the scene.’

The victim sustained four broken ribs, a dislocated knee cap, and suffered a bicep injury meaning that he struggles to lift small objects such as a kettle.

The injuries sustained forced the man to give up his job and means that he is only able to work part-time, impacting the financial situation for both him and his family.

Moore handed himself in to the police two days after the incident, although declined to comment in the police interview and claimed not to have been the driver even when officers informed him his DNA was found on the driver’s airbag.

He pleaded guilty one week before the matter went to trial in January.

Deemster Cook said that this case of driving causing serious injury is ‘one of the worst cases of dangerous driving that I have ever come across and your actions following the incident are despicable’.

He added that Moore abandoned his friend in a car that was ablaze, and ‘left him to die’ before jailing him for 20 months.

Moore was also disqualified from driving for two years and must take an extended test before regaining his licence.