A "laughing and smiling" driver ploughed head long into three women on a zebra crossing at the wheel of the car which had been taken without its owner's consent.

The horror accident in West Malling High Street in March was caught on CCTV and today shown to the jury at Maidstone Crown Court.

Banned driver Abie Ianson, 24, of Lunsford Lane, Larkfield was on trial but then changed his not guilty pleas to causing serious injury to two women, Tracy Lemaux and Mandy Harris by driving dangerously.

He had admitted to driving while disqualified and aggravated vehicle taking and the jury returned guilty verdicts on all four charges.

Prosecutor Ed Fowler told how Ianson - a disqualified driver - took the black Ford Fiesta from his distant cousin as she waited to collect her children from school.

Earlier he had sent a Facebook message to her saying he was visiting and then turned up in a blue track suit and drinking from a bottle of wine.

The Fiesta was then caught on CCTV at a Spar store in Parkfoot where he bought a pack of Budweisers and some chocolate eclairs before heading off to Lux Hill where she was planning to collect her children from school.

Mr Fowler claimed Ianson was left in the car with the keys and then drove it away as she looked on in horror.

She told the jury: "We arranged to meet that day after receiving a Facebook message saying he was going to visit me at my home.

"What happened that day has had a major impact on my life. There has been a lot going on."

They went in her car to Sainsbury's in Allington and bought alcohol, and then to the B&M store in Strood.

She added: "I arranged for a friend to collect my daughter from pre-school and at 3pm we stopped at the Parkfoot garage before we went to the school.

"I parked north of the station approach and was talking with friends. Two minutes later I saw the car being driven away. I couldn't see who was driving.

"I started to call Abie. I tried to contact his mum. The car left at 3.10pm and I made calls to him.

"We were left stranded and when I got home I couldn't get in because my house keys were in the car. I had to break in."

After the hearing broke for lunch half way through her evidence, lawyers for Ianson dramatically changed his pleas.

The prosecutor had told how she made a number of unanswered calls to Ianson's mobile before messaging him saying "You had better bring my car back."

'Two minutes later I saw the car being driven away. I couldn't see who was driving..."

He added that she sent a number of messages pleading for the return of her vehicle as Ianson was caught on CCTV in Borough Green where he went into a Co-op store without his shoes to buy more alcohol.

Later, the jury was told, the Fiesta was tailgating a Mercedes which it overtook shortly before colliding with railings and hitting the three women who were near the middle of the pedestrian crossing in West Malling High Street.

A third woman lInda Bailey received a glancing blow from the speeding Fiesta but her friends Ms Harris and Ms Lemot were thrown into the air.

Footage of the incident was shown to the jury of the three victims meeting before heading to the crossing at 16.07pm where they were struck by the Fiesta.

The car then turned right down Swan Street where eye witness, Ricky Strong later told police he saw the driver "laughing and smiling".

The two of the women were left with life changing injuries with Ms Harris needing pins into her legs and Ms Lemaux being airlifted to a London Hospital and needed treatment for injuries to her legs and face.

Ms Bailey received extensive bruising but didn't need hospital treatment.

Ianson was arrested a week later and said he had been with another woman in St Mary's Bay, Romney Marsh.

But Mr Fowler told how Crime Scene Investigators later found the Fiesta dumped in Twisden Lane, East Malling with Ianson's mobile phone inside and his fingerprints on a mirror and a beer can.

Ianson - who has been banned from driving twice before for 41 and 38 months - was remanded in custody and will be sentenced later.

Judge Philip Statman told him he faces a substantial jail sentence, adding: "This is the most serious set of circumstances."

To read more of our in depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates' courts across the county, click here.

For information on how we can report on court proceedings, click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Malling