Vodka fueled friends who kick out a teenager on a candy quest

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Two men hit vodka and inhaled laughing gas before driving to a teen who takes his little brother to the corner store.

Dylan Fryer was in a coma for eleven days after Elliott Watson drove an 18-year-old Vauxhall Astra on Batterbury Lane in Warrington in October.

Watson and his passenger, Barkley Redford, spent the immediate aftermath of the accident trying to avoid justice while Mr. Friars’ parents watched their son fight for his life.

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A judge told both men today that the sentences’ limits mean many will be disappointed by the short prison terms handed to them, with 18-year-old Redford sent to a young offender’s institution for ten months and Watson imprisoned for less than four years.

The Liverpool Crown Court heard that the two men had been drinking vodka and had purchased laughing gas before the accident on the evening of October 29.

They then decided they needed more alcohol, but the owner of the car, Sophie Clark, Redford’s mother and Watson’s partner, refused to drive and specifically told them not to take her car.

Despite this, they secretly took her keys and drove off anyway.

Watson drove erratically and came to Battersby Lane, a residential road, exceeding the speed limit.

Then he hit Dylan Fryers, who was taking his 12-year-old brother to a corner store to “buy some snacks” before heading home in the evening.

Mr. Frears’ little brother managed to get out of the way of the car, but the 18-year-old was thrown over the top of the car and left with catastrophic injuries, including a collapsed lung, multiple skull fractures and eight broken ribs.

Barclay Redford Prison, of McCain Street, Liverpool, at Liverpool Corona Court today.

More seriously, he suffered “brain shake”, a very serious form of injury that can cause bruising and damage to the brain, and spent eleven days in a coma.

The long-term outlook for Mr. Fryer’s health is unclear and his mother has told the court that the accident continues to have a profound impact on the physical and mental health of her two sons.

Watson and Redford got off and later got out of the car. For the next few hours, they seemed to be in denial that they could hit someone while they were driving for fuel.

Watson also appeared to have expressed greater concern about the fact that he might have been driving while disqualified than if he had hit anyone.

Mr. Harris said: “When questioned by Mrs. Clark, he said he ‘could not hit a person.’ Despite her initiatives, none of the accused went to the police at the time.

“They stayed in Watson’s apartment and didn’t leave on Saturday. They’ll have to prove I was driving disqualified,” Watson said.

“Mrs. Clark went home on Sunday morning, October 31, 2021. She said again that the men should go to the police. Watson said he was not going.”

They even encouraged Mrs. Clark to lie for them and say the car was stolen.

Mr. Harris said it amounts to a harsh campaign to try to deflect responsibility for the accident.

He said: “The two men seized the car illegally and Watson drove it in a frightening and dangerous way.

“Redford has taken his mother’s car without permission before.

He added that “the storming of the victim was followed by firm, dangerous and cowardly efforts by both defendants to cover their tracks and avoid responsibility for their crimes.”

Both Watson and Barkley have extensive criminal records, with Judge Barclay calling it “one of the worst he’s seen in a very young person”.

Kate Morley and Rebecca Smith, who have defended the two men, said there was no mitigation they could offer about the incident itself, which both said amounted to appalling behavior on the part of the two men.

Ms Morley, who is defending Watson, said: “Realistically, there is only one point to advance in mitigation and that is his pleas of guilt, for which I call for full credit.

“He does not seek to cause further discomfort or distress and wants the victim to know that he is completely disgusted with himself, he is sorry and knows he needs to be punished.”

Ms Smith, who is defending Redford, said he had suffered major childhood trauma and pleaded with the judge to take into account his age when sentencing him.

She said previous rehabilitation attempts had been paying off before the accident, and she said Redford could change his behavior if he was given the right support.

Both Ms Morley and Smith said their clients deeply regretted what they had done, but Judge Neil Flewitt, said he doubted the remorse was genuine.

Judge Flewitt said the restrictions on the crimes the men were charged with meant that many in the public were likely to feel their sentences were too lenient.

Addressing Watson, he said, “If I can give you a sentence longer than I can force, I will, but I have no strength to do so.”

Redford, of McCain Street, Walton, Liverpool, was sentenced to ten months in a juvenile offenders institution after pleading guilty to taking an aggravating car.

Watson, 36, of Smith Street, Warrington, was jailed for 44 months for causing serious injury through dangerous driving, driving while incompetent, taking the aggravated vehicle, failing to stop and reporting an accident.

In a statement issued following today’s ruling, Mr. Fryer’s family paid tribute to everyone who helped Dylan in the immediate aftermath of the accident and in his recovery.

They said: “We would like to thank everyone involved including passers-by and neighbors who helped Dylan, as he lay on the road before emergency services arrived.

“We would like to especially thank the ambulance crews, police, air ambulance doctors, Aintree A&E, Walton ITU, Aintree ITU, Walton Cairns, The Serious Collision Investigation Unit, family liaison officers, our family, friends and co-workers who have helped us through this very difficult time.”

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