A cocaine-addled driver who killed his 15-year-old friend when he smashed into an oncoming car when he lost control of a Land Rover Discovery has been jailed.
Brandon Jefferson-Howe had been drinking and taking drugs in the hours leading up to the fatal collision in the early hours of Saturday, July 30, this year.
The 20-year-old, who has never held a driving licence, refused to give police the name of his passenger leaving Connor Thompson’s family anxiously waiting for several hours before their son could be formally identified.
The driver of the blue Nissan Qashqai, who suffered whiplash in the impact, told the court that another vehicle had sped past her on Junction Road, Norton, just moments before Jefferson-Howe’s smashed into her vehicle and flipped it over.
She told the court that she didn’t know whether they were racing or not but both cars were travelling at excessive speed.
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Teesside Crown Court heard how the teenager’s death had ripped the heart out of his family as his parents and three sisters continue to struggle to come to terms with their loss.
In a heart-breaking victim personal statement, Connor’s mother Kelly Thompson said: “As a family we were sat for hours waiting to find out if it was Connor, we knew it was him when he didn’t walk into the house but we just couldn’t accept it.
“The girls are totally devastated – those hours were the longest in our lives.”
Connor’s father, Anthony, said he was consumed with anger after learning that his teenage son had died in such an unnecessary way.
Shaun Dodds, prosecuting, told the judge that Jefferson-Howe was more than three times over the limit for drug driving as well as being over the limit for drink driving.
Jefferson-Howe, of Trefoil Court, Norton, near Stockton, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, no insurance, and driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence.
Robert Mochrie, in mitigation, said his client had shown remorse for his actions on that fateful morning but could not remember the events of the fatal crash.
He added: “He is remorseful and he understands that whilst this is a different type of sorrow that he will feel as that of Connor’s parents and family, he himself will have to come to terms with his actions and he will carry this with him for the rest of his life.”
Judge Howard Crowson sentenced the driver to five years in custody and banned him from driving for seven-and-a-half years.
“The sentence that I impose doesn’t not, nor try to, measure the worth of Connor’s life or the grieving of his loss, which will be long-lived because his life has been tragically cut short,” he said.
“Shortly after dawn on July 30, your 15-year-old friend Connor died from head injuries sustained when you failed to negotiate an easy left-hand bend on a residential street.”
The judge added: “You were driving far too quickly and given that you were travelling within a relatively short distance of another car and passed in a similar matter, it is reasonable to infer you were travelling together.
“I am not able to conclude that you were in a race but that is just splitting hairs – you were clearly driving quickly after another car driving quickly and perhaps encouraging each other to drive quickly.”
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