A DRIVER swerved across motorway lanes and crashed into a tree - leaving one passenger paralysed from the waist down.

Witnesses said Rajibul Hoque had swerved in and out of lanes to overtake and undertake other vehicles on the M11 and was travelling at speed.

But he lost control of the Peugeot 206 after he undertook some vehicles, crossed the hard shoulder and crashed into a tree just past junction seven in North Weald.

Other drivers stopped to help Hoque and his four passengers, who had been travelling from Cambridge to London for a meal.

But it was revealed the car was his brother's and he had no permission to drive it.

One of his passengers suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralysed from the waist down. He will need to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life and also suffered a brain injury.

Another suffered a life-changing shoulder and arm injury, while a third broke his wrist.

Hoque suffered a bleed on the brain and life-changing leg and shoulder injuries.

Only one passenger was uninjured in the crash on February 13, 2019.

Police found Hoque had been using his mobile phone as a satnav, secured on a bracket on the windscreen, at the time of the collision.

The car also belonged to his brother, who was on holiday at the time and had not given him permission to drive the car.

Hoque, 20, of Alex Wood, Cambridge, was charged with three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He initially denied the charges in September 2020 but changed his pleas to guilty in February this year.

Hoque was jailed for three years and two months at Chelmsford Crown Court.He was banned from driving for six years and seven months.

Det Sgt Steve Holmes, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “Rajibul Hoque’s actions resulted in life-changing injuries to a number of people, including himself, causing a lasting physical and emotional impact.

“His reckless behaviour changed the lives of a young group of people within seconds and put their lives in grave danger.

“A split second can change lives irrevocably and this tragic case is a reminder that when you get behind the wheel, you have a responsibility for the safety of yourself, your passengers and other road users.

“Dangerous driving puts everyone at risk and the consequences do not bear thinking about.”