A "LUNATIC" driver who crashed his car, killing the back-seat passenger, has been jailed for five years.

Stuart Marshall, 18, died when the vehicle hit a wall after going out of control while being pursued by police, Preston Crown Court heard.

Douane Partington, 21, of Hillside, Ramsbottom, admitted causing death by dangerous driving. He was also banned from driving for 10 years.

The court heard that earlier he had been seen in local pubs and seemed to be unsteady on his feet.

Partington, who did not have a driver's licence, suffered serious injuries in the crash, spending three-and-a-half weeks unconscious and was initially on a life support machine.

Henry Bradshaw, prosecuting, said Partington was released from a three-year term in a young offenders' institution on March 6 last year. Next day he bought a D-reg Vauxhall Cavalier from a second-hand dealer.

There were certain mechanical faults, especially the brakes, but they were not responsible for the crash.

On March 13 a witness saw Partington at The Major public house in Ramsbottom carrying what seemed to be a pint of beer and he seemed unsteady on his feet.

Later that day he was seen at The Hare and Hounds pub in Ramsbottom. He had argued with a group of men and then spoke to the girlfriend of Stuart Marshall. Friends arrived and said that Stuart Marshall was angry but Partington and the girl went after him and he agreed to get in the car taking up the back seat position.

The girl presumed that Partington would take her and Marshall back to her house.

She shouted at Marshall telling him to put a seatbelt on in what she described as a "panic situation."

Partington overtook, forcing a car on the opposite side of the road to go onto a side road.

The driver of the car said the Cavalier had been "driven by a lunatic."

He then drove on to Haslingden Road by which time a police car was in pursuit. They estimated that the car was being driven at over 70mph in a 30mphzone.

Partington did not stop and his speed forced him to go round a roundabout on the right-hand side of it and the pull sharply left to get in the correct lane.

The rear of the car swerved and Partington over-compensated for his driving and hit a wall. Mr Marshall died at the scene and the girl was injured.

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