A promising young footballer who left his friend in a vegetative state when he crashed his BMW while taking ‘laughing gas’ has been jailed.

Mason Thornton was videoed by his passengers taking nitrous oxide from a balloon just seconds before he lost control of his car and smashed in crash barriers while driving at 80mph.

The 21-year-old’s friend, Harlan Moon, suffered catastrophic head injuries when he was thrown out of the car as it was driven towards a slip road on the A19 near Billingham.

Teesside Crown Court heard how Mr Moon will require round the clock care as a result of the horrific injuries he suffered in October 2022.

Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, told the court how Thornton had been stopped by police just days before the horrendous crash when a member of the public reported his erratic driving.

Thornton's crashed BMWThornton's crashed BMW (Image: Picture: Incidents on Teesside and County Durham)

However, on that night he explained having the nitrous oxide in his car as he was taking to a friend who was a baker and he didn’t appear to be under the influence of any intoxicants.

Dealing with the events of the night of the accident, Miss Atkinson said Thornton had been to a house party before leaving with Mr Moon and three others, including a woman celebrating her 18th birthday.

“One of the passengers took a short video of what was going on in the car,” she said.

“Whilst driving, the defendant was inhaling from a balloon. It was confirmed by police investigators that he was taking it at 2km from the crash site.

“The speedometer showed it was travelling at 80mph, travelling at that speed it would have taken 28 seconds to reach the location of the crash.

“Harlan had been ejected from the vehicle and was laid unconscious on the road.”

The court heard how Mr Moon suffered horrific head injuries as a result of the accident and a quantity of the drug was recovered from the scene.

Two young woman in the car suffered relatively minor injuries while the front seat passenger escaped unscathed.

She said a portion of Harlan’s skull was removed to relieve the pressure of a bleed on the brain and the young man is now in a vegetative state.

Miss Atkinson added an examination of Thornton’s mobile phone revealed that he had been selling nitrous oxide – also known as laughing gas and smart whip – for several weeks before the crash.

Mason ThorntonMason Thornton (Image: Cleveland Police)

Thornton, of Tarr Steps, Ingleby Barwick, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and supplying a psychoactive drug – nitrous oxide – better known as laughing gas or ‘smart whip’.

Elisha Marsay, mitigating, said her client accepts full responsibility for his actions that night and had quit his position as a youth player for Darlington FC as he was struggling with his mental health as a result of the crash.

She said the young defendant had been brought up by his grandmother as his mother passed away when he was a child.

Miss Marsay added: “He is absolutely distraught by what he caused and he has taken full responsibility for his actions on that evening.

“The one thing he has struggled to comprehend throughout the last two years the injuries that he has caused to his friend and that is something he is struggling to come to terms with.”

Nitrous oxide canistersNitrous oxide canisters (Image: PA)

Judge Jonathan Carroll said Thornton was heavily intoxicated at the time of the crash as he sentenced him after learning nothing from a near miss just days earlier.

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“This case is an absolute tragedy. What makes it harder to bear for the family is that it was totally avoidable,” he said “It has also been a tragedy for his family and friends, the victim personal statement sets out, in a considered way, the devastating impact on them – their sense of loss is keenly felt.

“His father has had to give up overseas work, his mother has had to give up work in a clinical care setting to look after Harlan and because working in that setting is just too emotionally challenging.”

Sentencing Thornton to a total of three years and 11 months, the judge added: “You drove that vehicle after taking the drug which had made you unfit to be behind the steering wheel, especially when that vehicle was moving at 80mph.”

Thornton was also banned from driving for five years and ordered to take an extended retest.