A HUSBAND and wife told a jury of the early morning crash outside their house that left a woman seriously injured and trapped in the back seat of a Suzuki.

Susan King said she heard a “horrendous noise outside” their Scarcroft Road house in York at 6am on Saturday, October 5, 2013, and Robert King said looking out of an upstairs window he saw a car “corkscrewing” as it turned 360 degrees, ending up on its wheels. Both went out to help those inside.

Passenger Grace Watts told the jury she was very drunk and had only a hazy memory of being at her sister’s house earlier that morning.

“The next thing I remember is coming round in the back of the car,” she alleged. “There were firemen standing at the side of me. There was blood down my head and I remember firemen saying: ‘We are going to have to get the roof off the car’.”

She told York Crown Court she felt scared and did not realise that she had internal injuries. After she was taken out of the car, she was taken straight to Leeds General Infirmary where she spent three days.

“For about nine months afterwards, I used to get a lot of pain in to my liver and a lot of headaches,” she said.

Mrs King claimed she saw a young man moving from the driver’s seat into the front passenger seat. She opened the passenger seat to help him out.

“I got hit by massive fumes of alcohol,” she alleged. “He sort of fell out. First of all he was crawling around on his hands and knees on the ground. I was amazed he wasn’t in a worse condition. Such was the state of the car, I was really expecting to find someone dead.”

Nurse Sophie Chilton said she went to help him.

“I asked him who was driving,” she alleged.

“What did he say?” asked prosecution barrister Reginald Bosomworth.

“He said ‘I was driving’ “, she replied.

The prosecution alleges the man was John Paul Harris, 35, formerly of Imperial Court, Clifton, who denies causing serious injury to Grace Watts by dangerous driving and driving whilst disqualified. Mr King alleged he found a second young man wedged in the back of the car whom he helped to get out on the passenger’s side. Mrs Chilton claimed the second man got out of a door on the driver’s side. Mr King alleged the only door on the driver’s side could not be opened.

The jury heard that Harris’ blood contained alcohol and cocaine and that a spot of it was found on the driver’s airbag, which scientists have agreed indicated he had been close to the airbag when he was bleeding but didn’t prove whether or not he was the driver.

He was banned from driving at the time and has previous convictions for dangerous driving, careless driving, drink driving and driving whilst disqualified. the jury heard.

The trial continues.