A woman left paralysed in a horror crash caused by her best friend said her life had been wrecked.

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Sian Jordan is in a wheelchair after fracturing her spine when a car driven by Stephanie Grisedale spun and slammed into a tree on a remote country road.

Grisedale, 24, of Hutton-in-the-Forest, near Penrith, was spared an immediate jail term after being found guilty of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

She walked free from Carlisle Crown Court, having been given a suspended sentence following a hearing in which a judge said she had been “showing off” before the crash.

Miss Jordan, of Croglin, near Carlisle, spoke after the hearing.

“Nothing will ever be enough,” she told the Evening Mail's sister paper the News & Star in Carlisle, referring to the sentence.

“She’s walking around. She wrecked my life. I’m just glad it’s over.”

During a trial at the court last month, Miss Jordan said she and two other passengers begged Grisedale to slow down.

But as they travelled along a dark narrow lane known as “the bumpy road”, their driver ignored these pleas.

In darkness, at about 10pm on March 27 last year, Grisedale lost control of the Ford Focus on the C3032, near Mungrisedale.

The car spun and crashed into a tree with front-seat passenger Miss Jordan bearing the brunt of the collision.

She suffered serious multiple injuries, spent several months in hospital and must use a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

Miss Jordan said: “She was showing off. She didn’t take into consideration any of her passengers. We were all begging her to slow down.

“Everything has changed. I used to work on a farm, I used to ride horses. I can’t do any of that any more.”

Grisedale had pleaded not guilty to the charge during the trial. She denied that she was travelling too fast and claimed she did slow down.

The court heard Miss Jordan now wanted nothing to do with Grisedale, who had been “shunned” in the community.

David Birrell, speaking for Grisedale, said: “She certainly never meant to cause the life-changing injuries that her then best friend suffered.

“She continually thinks about how she has ruined her friend’s life.”

Grisedale repeatedly wept during the hearing and while Judge Paul Batty QC passed sentence.

He said of her driving: “You were going far too fast at night on a narrow country road in order to show off.

“Your best friend couldn’t walk away and will never walk again. You caused a life-changing event for that young lady and she will have to live with the consequences of what you did.”

The court was told Grisedale was the mum of a young child who needed his mother.

Judge Batty said apart from the driving offence she was “a good person” who cared for her child and family. He told Grisedale: “No sentence that this court can impose can compensate for what you did on that night.”

She was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Grisedale must carry out 300 hours of unpaid work and was banned from the road for three years. She must take an extended driving test if she wishes to get back behind the wheel.