A MAN who drove his car after consuming two bottles of wine has left four young people with devastating, irreversible injures, including brain damage, after crashing into them.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how Peter Adenuga’s victims now have to live with the mental and physical trauma of his actions for life.

One of the victims, a now 21-year-old man, has even said he does not know if he can ‘handle feeling like this forever’ as it is ‘too much’ and ‘too difficult’.

Adenuga appeared before the court for sentencing on Friday after being convicted of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Prosecuting, Karl Sholz said the horrific incident happened on July 16 in 2022 following a musical festival at Arley Hall, which is down the road from Appleton Thorn.

Transport options were ‘woefully inadequate’ there after the event ended, leaving many festivals-goers with no choice but to walk into Knutsford to try and track down a taxi – which is what Adenuga’s four victims had to do.

But the court heard how Adenuga, 29, had driven there, and despite consuming two bottles of wine, he got in his car with three passengers and decided to drive home.

The victims were walking down Budworth Road after the festival eded, as were a lot of other people.

The country lane was not lit up, but the four of them were using their phone torches and were wearing brightly coloured clothes. One of them was also carrying a large bean bag.

The group flagged down a taxi driver on this road who unfortunately couldn’t take them, but while here, Adenuga, who Judge Louise Brandon said she believes was driving too fast for road conditions at the time, ‘struck them at speed’.

Emergency services rushed to the scene, but the victims sustained serious injuries, especially a girl and boy who are now aged 20 and 21.

They were rushed to hospital, and their injuries included a fracture skull, a broken hip and pelvis, a dislocated knee, various facial fractures, nerve damage and more.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how following the horrific incident, witnesses, including a police officer, could immediately see that Adenuga was drunk, he was described as being ‘unsteady on his feet’ and ‘spaced out’.

One witness also saw the defendant reach into his car to retrieve an item which he then threw in the bushes.

His phone was later retrieved from the bushes, but Adenuga refused to provide police officers with a pin number to unlock it.

As a result, it can not be determined whether Adenuga was on his phone or not at the time of the crash.

It was also later discovered that he was more than double over the legal alcohol limit and Judge Brandon said how she believes his driving was ‘highly impaired by the consumption of alcohol’.

Victim impact statements were read to the court, in which Judge Brandon said they made for ‘difficult reading’.

The 20-year-girl said that two years on, she still suffers daily agonising pain and that the ‘psychological trauma is almost unbearable’.

It was heard how she will have complications when she is older due to the crash and that her injuries are permanent.

The 21-year-old’s victim impact statement revealed how he is still struggling ‘really badly’ and that he is a different person following the incident due to his brain injury.

He said that he has to live with this trauma for life and that he does not know if he can handle feeling like this forever as it is ‘too much and too difficult’.

Adenuga has three convictions for six offences, one of which is for dangerous driving.

The court heard from Saul Brody how his client is remorseful for the incident and that he feels it has been a wakeup call and that he has matured since.

Judge Brandon said she had ‘no doubt’ that Adenuga’s offending has passed the custodial threshold.

He was handed four and a half years behind bars and was disqualified from driving for five years and three months.