A teenager who was very drunk and drove at high speeds on a motorway in Sussex has been jailed for causing the death of a passenger.
Ben King, 17, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to seven years in prison at Hove Crown Court on Monday.
Rui Rica, 19, of Mill Road, Worthing, was hurled from the car and killed when King lost control of a Mini Cooper on 9 October 2007.
King admitted causing death by careless driving whilst unfit through drink.
Sussex Police said he had been speeding after drinking stolen alcohol before the crash.
"This was no mistake or oversight, this was committed criminal behaviour"
King and two other passengers, who were later arrested but not charged, ran from the wreckage after the car hit the M23's central reservation near Crawley and ended up on the hard shoulder.
Mr Rica, who was originally from Lisbon and worked as a bricklayer, was killed instantly.
Insp Mark Armstrong said the force's sympathies were with Mr Rica's mother Fernanda, stepfather, Richard and the rest of his family.
He added: "King's behaviour, and indeed the behaviour of his companions who managed to escape prosecution, was abhorrent, having fled from the scene knowing the person they were with had been killed."
"Everybody is aware that police actively discourage people from speeding or drinking and driving and any one of these activities is extremely dangerous."
"This was no mistake or oversight, this was committed criminal behaviour by a young man who already had a string of convictions at 16 years of age," Insp Armstrong said.
"He had previously been disqualified from driving, was uninsured and using a vehicle he knew was stolen and which he deliberately drove erratically and at excessive speed.
"The officers who arrested him described him as being very drunk, on alcohol that he admitted stealing."
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