THE father of a teenager seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident says the perpetrators "left him to die like a dog in the road".
Hunter Thomson spoke out after three men were sentenced over the Ilkeston crash which left his son Haydn, 19, in intensive care.
The car was later set alight and abandoned in a field.
Matthew Reynolds, 29, of St Norbert Drive, Kirk Hallam, was yesterday jailed for three years after he admitted failing to stop at the scene of an accident, failing to report an accident and perverting the course of justice. He was also banned from driving for four years.
Passenger James Harrison, 22, of Oliver Road, Kirk Hallam, admitted perverting the course of justice. He was jailed for 20 months.
Scott Hipkiss, 18, of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, admitted perverting the course of justice. He was not in the car but lied to support the others' alibi. He was given an eight-month sentence, suspended for a year, and 200 hours unpaid work.
Haydn, of St James's Avenue, Ilkeston, spent almost a month in intensive care after the crash at the junction of Stanton Road and Union Road on May 12. Haydn is now back at home recovering, and was at Derby Crown Court to see the trio sentenced, but his father says he has permanent brain damage.
Mr Thomson said: "He kind of comprehends what is happening, but he will never fully recover because brain damage is permanent.
"Haydn said to me in court he didn't want the youngest lad sent to jail and he hoped he could carry on with his life.
"He is pleased with the sentences the other guys got. He thought it was a fair outcome."
Mr Thomson said he believed the three showed "no remorse".
He said: "I think anyone of moral character...if you hit somebody you should stop, to see what assistance they can give, even if it is to call an ambulance.
"They never even did. They left him to die like a dog or animal in the road. They showed no remorse."
Asked how his son felt about everything, Mr Thomson said: "He knows what they did was wrong, but he is still trying to balance it in his mind."
Hadyn was in the Queen's Medical Centre until July 26.
His pelvis was smashed and he couldn't breathe on his own for a long time. He had to learn to speak again.
Outside court, PC Paul Barker said: "Haydn is very lucky to be alive. The medical staff at the Queen's Medical Centre did a remarkable job.
"There is a message here that if you have a collision, don't try to cover it up."
Recorder Peter Ievins extended the sympathy of the court to Haydn and his family.
He said: "You are plainly an exceptional young man and I am sure you still are and you will be."
To the defendants, he said: "This was one of the most contemptible pieces of behaviour to come before the courts.
"Reynolds had been drinking. You were driving too fast in a residential area with a speed limit of 30mph limit. You thought you might have killed him. You left another human being, as far as you knew, dying in the road. Fortunately he did not die. He suffered brain injuries from which he will suffer for the rest of his life and you must live with that knowledge that you are responsible.
"Harrison, even though you were a passenger and, I gather, told him to slow down and then stop, afterwards you could have gone back or contacted the emergency services. You had four miles in which to do so. You did not.
"As I say, your behaviour is contemptible. But it gets worse. When you got home, you might have thought better and listened to your conscience and done the right thing. You did the opposite. You drove the car away and set fire to it and destroyed it and you tried to manufacture an alibi."
He said Hipkiss was in a different position. He had lied to police at the behest of one of the defendants.
