Fatal 'show off' driver jailed

A teenager who killed two friends while "showing off" in his mother's car has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in a young offenders' institution.

Mark Hope, 19, a bricklayer, was sentenced on Monday - a month after he broke down in court when he was convicted of killing Craig Bond, 16, and Ieuan Murkin, 15.

The court had heard how Hope - who had passed his test four months before - was driving his mother's Ford Orion "too fast and too dangerously" when it crashed on the Crumlin Road near his hometown of Pontypool in September last year.

Sentencing Hope on two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, Judge Isabel Parry said: "In my judgement your age and your lack of driving experience contributed to the fateful decision you made to drive with excessive speed through this bend.

"I am satisfied you are truly remorseful for your conduct and the consequences it has had for others."

She added: "You will appreciate the burden of having to live with the consequences of what you did on this occasion."

During the trial, the jury heard how the three boys involved in the crash had been close friends - having recently formed a band - and were on their way to a bowling alley when the car crashed.

A reconstruction showed Hope was driving at between 70mph - 82mph, although he insisted he was doing about 55mph.

Jeremy Jenkins, prosecuting said Hope braked when he saw a learner driver come around a corner towards him, but lost control and the car mounted a bend and somersaulted.

"This young man was showing off. He was driving his mother's car at a wholly inappropriate speed and dangerously," he told the court.

"It is reasonable to infer this young man was taking the racing line as he drove through the bends."

Hope was reported to have been hysterical after the accident, shouting: "I have killed my friends".

He insisted the only reason he lost control of the car was because the wheel locked.

He denied cutting the bends and added: "I was not showing off."