A woman has been banned from driving following a horror crash in which two people were seriously injured including a 14-month-old baby who suffered “catastrophic”, life-changing injuries including a bleed on the brain which led to a stroke.

Rachel Pyrah, 45, was driving her Peugeot Boxer van on the B6265 at Fellbeck, near Pateley Bridge, when it struck a kerb on the edge of the road and careered onto the other side of the narrow ‘B’ road into the path of a VW T-Roc, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Matthew Moore-Taylor said that on a bright, sunny day on May 31, 2024, a family in a two-car convoy were travelling to Ripon for a glamping trip to celebrate a birthday.

The T-Roc was in front, driven by a named man whose baby daughter was in the back seat, wearing a child’s seat belt, and whose wife was in the front passenger seat. The baby’s godmother, a sixth-form student, was in the middle seat.

In the second vehicle behind the T-Roc were the student’s parents. They were all in good spirits and looking forward to their holiday on the glamping site.

Suddenly, they were “astounded” to see an oncoming van in the opposite carriageway, bearing a “colourful decoration”, veering onto their side of the road and hurtling towards them down the hill.

Pyrah’s van — her “mobile home” in which she was living at the time — “swerved sharply and struck the side of the VW car at the front of the convoy.

“It appeared the (van) driver had lost control,” said Mr Moore-Taylor.

The T-Roc span around 90 degrees before coming to a rest on its rear, against a wall.

Pyrah’s van, which was “decorated with artwork”, flipped over and came to a rest on its roof. It was “utterly destroyed”.

'He thought she was dead'

The driver of the mangled T-Roc crawled from the wreckage and tried to get to his badly injured baby daughter in the back of the vehicle. The baby was unconscious and appeared to be not breathing.

“She wasn’t responding to him,” said Mr Moore-Taylor.

“He thought she was dead.”

The baby’s godmother, whose head hit the internal lighting in the vehicle, had a “huge” wound to her forehead and was “covered in blood”. She also suffered three cracked teeth and bruising to her legs and face.

An off-duty nurse who went to her aid said that the cut was about five inches’ deep and that her “skull was exposed”.

Pyrah went over to check on the victims who were being assisted by a retired midwife who got out of her vehicle and went to the aid of the injured baby.

Pyrah sent voice notes to friends saying she had “clipped a kerb and lost control” – the same explanation she later gave to police.

Harrogate hospital

The baby was airlifted to Leeds General Infirmary and her father, who suffered a nasty eye injury and wounds to his arm and knee, was taken to Harrogate District Hospital where his wounds were closed with surgical strips.

Such was his anxiety about his baby that he too was later transferred to the Leeds hospital where he saw his baby daughter “surrounded by machines” which he described as “the scariest thing”.

The baby spent 19 days in hospital undergoing intensive treatment. For three of those days, she was under critical care.

As well as injuries to her body, the baby suffered a brain haemorrhage and a “severe traumatic brain injury” which led to which led to a stroke and subsequent cognitive complications including difficulty communicating and “language disfunction”.

A doctor’s report noted that the baby would require lifelong neurological and social care. There was a risk of “long-term” epilepsy and “life-long dependency on third-party care”.

The baby’s godmother was taken to Harrogate District Hospital by ambulance where her wound was stitched and stapled.

'The most terrifying experience of our lives'

In police interview, Pyrah told officers she was on her way to see a friend at the time of the accident after having spent the previous night on a campsite in her mobile home. She had been on a two-week road trip to help with the grieving process following the recent death of her mother.

Pyrah, of Caythorpe in Lincolnshire, admitted two counts of causing serious injury by careless driving and appeared for sentence yesterday (May 29).

In a statement read out in court on behalf of the family, the baby’s father said that before the accident, his daughter was a “happy, healthy and active baby just starting to explore the world around her”.

Fighting back tears, he added:

“Seeing my daughter unconscious and connected to machines, not knowing if she would survive, was the most terrifying experience of our lives.

“We spent weeks in hospital terrified of losing her. We continue to (live with) the lifelong consequences of her injuries every day.”

The family had been told by a paediatrician that the baby would have “lifelong disability” and limited cognitive and communicative function.

The baby’s godmother, who was living in Skipton at the time, also broke down in tears and said she was just “grateful to be alive”.

'Ruined lives'

Defence barrister Hayley Brickel said that Pyrah, a working mother-of-one, had a hitherto clean record and was known to be a “careful, courteous, safe and considerate driver”.

Recorder Paul Reid told Pyrah: “This day has ruined a number of lives including yours.”

He said there was “no evidence, no suggestion” that the accident had been caused by “drink or distraction”, nor any mechanical fault on the van which, like the other vehicles involved, was travelling at a reasonable speed between 40mph and 50mph.

He said it appeared that Pyrah had moved her vehicle “slightly” to the side of the road to let the oncoming vehicles pass safely on what was quite a narrow road, but “you hit that kerb and lost control of this mobile home which careered across the road”.

He added: “This was a fleeting adjustment of positioning in the road for reasons, which the prosecution accepts, to be the striking of a kerb. This was momentary and the results were utterly catastrophic. It was a tragic accident.”

He noted that Pyrah was “utterly remorseful”, a “devoted mother” and fully accepted that she was responsible for the crash.

Pyrah was given a 12-month community order with 60 hours of unpaid work.

The judge made no order for compensation because a “substantial insurance claim” had already been made in respect of both victims.