A drunk and drugged-up driver killed his 15-year-old friend when he crashed into an oncoming car, a court heard.
Brandon Jefferson-Howe was more than three times over the limit when he got behind the wheel in the early hours of Saturday July 30.
Connor Thompson was in the passenger seat when the 20-year-old driver ‘failed to negotiate an easy left-hand bend on a residential street’ and collided with another driver.
The 15-year-old tragically died but Jefferson-Howe refused to identify him to police, leaving the teenager’s family to wonder for ‘the longest hours of their lives’.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Jefferson-Howe may have been racing another car at the time of the accident but was not able to determine this for sure.
The judge said to him: ‘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.’
Jefferson-Howe was also found to be driving without a licence.
Connor’s mum 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.
‘His three sisters are totally devastated.’
The victim’s dad said he was ‘consumed with anger’.
Jefferson-Howe, from Norton, near Stockton, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, no insurance, and driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence.
His defence lawyer said his client was ‘remorseful’ but cannot remember the crash clearly.
The attorney added: ‘He will have to come to terms with his actions and he will carry this with him for the rest of his life.’
Jefferson-Howe was sentenced to five years in custody and banned from driving for seven-and-a-half years.
The judge said: ‘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.’
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