Vigil for death crash schoolgirls

Kayleigh Parry, Katie Roberts, Danielle Caswell, and Louise Jones

Families and friends of four schoolgirls killed near Ebbw Vale have united at a candle-lit vigil to mark a year since the tragedy.

The teenagers were backseat passengers in a car when its driver lost control of the vehicle on a mountain road.

Driver Craig Ramshaw, 18, had passed his driving test only three days before the accident.

Last month he was banned from driving for two years following a careless driving conviction.

Before the vigil took place on Friday evening, the father of victim Louise Jones, from Ebbw Vale, said it was an important way of remembering what happened exactly a year ago.

"It is going to be very difficult for us," said Terry Jones.

"Originally, it was just going to be close family and friends who went, but it has ballooned a bit.

Instead of teaching these kids how to pass a test, we should be teaching them how to drive Terry Jones

"The girls had so many friends, there is so much family, you can't tell them not to come to remember them."

The vigil was held on the same spot and at the exact time that Danielle Caswell, Katie Roberts, both 15, and Louise Jones and Kayleigh Parry, 16, all died.

There were in the back of the Vauxhall Corsa car driven by Craig Ramshaw when it skidded out of control on the B4560 between Garnlydan and Llangynidr.

Ramshaw was cleared of causing death by dangerous driving at a trial that ended in October, but lost his licence for two years after a jury convicted him of careless driving.

Campaign

The case has led Mr Jones to launch a campaign to overhaul the current driving test system.

Mr Jones said he wanted learners to log 200 hours of driving with an older motorist before they could take a car out on their own.

"We are starting from the wrong base at the moment, it is the safety issue we have to deal with," said Mr Jones.

"Instead of teaching these kids how to pass a test, we should be teaching them how to drive."