An 18-year-old girl died while holding her father's hand after a driver turned a BMW into a 'lethal weapon' and crashed into her car. Georgia Bendelow suffered catastrophic head injuries when Thomas Sherwood smashed his BMW M3 into the vehicle she was travelling in on the A63 in Leeds on August 31, 2022.
Father's harrowing account
Georgia's father raced from his nearby home to find his daughter, her boyfriend, and her mother trapped inside the mangled wreckage. He described watching his daughter take her final breaths while trying to reassure her that help was coming. 'I'm now a broken man and left with a vision that will forever haunt me,' he said in his victim impact statement. 'Seeing my daughter Georgia in the most horrific state, just gasping for her last breaths whilst blood was running down her face. All I could do was be there for her, to hold her and reassure her until help came. I can only hope that she could hear me. Seeing her in that tangled car is a sight that will never leave me.'
Crash details
Sherwood, 36, from Leeds, drove the high-powered sports car he had borrowed from a friend without insurance, speeding at 80mph in a 50mph zone on Selby Road. He collided with a red Seat Mii driven by Georgia's mother, sending the car flying across the carriageway for over 1,000ft before it landed on the opposite lane. Georgia died in hospital two days later. Her mother and boyfriend survived but suffered serious injuries.
Sentencing and impact
Sherwood was found guilty of death by dangerous driving, two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and previously admitted causing death while driving an uninsured car. He was jailed for 14 years and banned from driving for 14 years and four months, and must complete an extended test if he ever wants to drive again. Georgia's grandparents said Sherwood's driving turned the BMW into a 'lethal weapon.' Her boyfriend Mark said the crash took away the 'love of my life and our future together.' Detective Sergeant Steve Suggit from West Yorkshire Police described Sherwood's actions as 'reckless and dangerous' and said that had he driven safely at the speed limit, 'Georgia would still be with her friends and family now.'
