A driver lost control of a car and hit a tree, leaving a passenger trapped underneath with serious injuries, a court heard.

Jarome Tomlinson and others had been out to a party when he agreed to drive a woman’s Peugeot 206, while uninsured, to buy some alcohol.

After midnight on December 2, 2017, he struck the tree on the A249 in Sittingbourne Road, Maidstone, and the car flipped onto its side.

Prosecutor John Fitzgerald said front seat passenger Jade Nash was pinned under the car and police officers and members of the public had to lift it off her.

She was taken to hospital and treated for a fractured skull, with a bleed on the brain, and needed stitches inside her mouth.

She discharged herself from hospital the next day and has since recovered and returned to her shop assistant job.

Mr Fitzgerald said it was likely Miss Nash was not wearing a seatbelt.

It was not possible to tell whether Tomlinson was speeding.

He added that the 29-year-old plasterer had traces of cocaine in his system, but it was not known if it impaired his driving.

“It was a finely balanced decision as to whether this was dangerous driving or careless driving,” Mr Fitzgerald told Maidstone Crown Court.

The car owner was in the back seat at the time.

As Tomlinson was not insured, Miss Nash’s claim for damages was through the civil courts.

Tomlinson, of Kewlands, Maidstone was due to stand trial on a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, but his guilty plea to careless driving was accepted.

He also admitted failing to stop and driving while uninsured.

Tomlinson had seven previous convictions for eight offences including 18 months youth custody in 2007 for violent disorder and being jailed for eight months in April 2011 for shining a laser pen at a police helicopter.

Jack Triggs, defending, said Tomlinson thought he was going too close to the kerb and over corrected.

The car then spun in a momentary lapse of attention.

Imposing a fine of £1,100 and a 12-month driving ban, Judge Adele Williams branded it irresponsible behaviour.

“This was altogether irresponsible behaviour because you were driving a vehicle you need not have been driving.

“During a momentary lapse of attention you lost control.

"What was irresponsible you were not insured, which could have had serious consequences.”

But the judge added she could deal with Tomlinson by a financial penalty.