A YOUNG driver who was left with a paralysed arm after riding his motorcycle on a pavement has been spared jail but banned from driving for two years.

Charles Hancock, 19, was given an 18-week prison sentence suspended for one year at York Magistrates Court. He was also fined £450 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £80.

Hancock, of York Road, Tadcaster, was told he would suffer for the rest of his life with the injuries he sustained after crashing in to an oncoming farmer’s trailer while driving his motorcycle on a pavement last February.

Craig Robertson, representing Hancock, demonstrated to the court that Hancock was now unable to lift his left arm above shoulder height due to the accident and was scheduled for further reconstructive surgery later this year.

He said: “His life is now going to be very different and he is having constant physiotherapy as well as undergoing psychiatric assistance.

“This is a young man who had the world in front of him and he will carry the mental impact of it for the rest of his life.”

Hancock collided with the tractor’s trailer after the driver of the tractor tried to swerve out of the way as the bike headed towards him around a bend in Oxton Lane.

Hancock had been driving on a footpath on the wrong side of the road and the court was previously told that he had been sucked into the road by passing traffic.

The court was told that it was unlikely Hancock would be able to work for some time and that it was doubtful he would be able to achieve his ambition of becoming a car mechanic.

Sentencing, chairman of the bench William Sessions said: “This is a very serious offence – driving dangerously – and in many ways you have already had your penalty with your injuries which have occurred.”

Hancock pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and will have to re-take his test before he can drive again once the ban is over.