Learner driver, 18, killed his best friend in horror smash while speeding round corner in £100 car after smoking cannabis

A LEARNER driver killed his best friend in a horror smash while speeding in a £100 car he bought from a scrapyard just 24 hours earlier

Uninsured Daniel Wilson, 18, was behind the wheel of a Renault Megane when the vehicle smashed into a parked van, Bolton Crown Court was told.

His life-long pal Latham Schofield, 17, who was in the right-hand rear seat, died at the scene from his injuries.

Another teen fractured their skull in the accident but is expected to make a full recovery.

Wilson, of Bolton Gtr Manchester, was jailed at the town’s crown court yesterday.

Paul Fleming, defending, said: “I have spoken to the defendant’s mother and it’s plain both the defendant and she regarded Latham as one of the family.

“He was at their house on virtually a daily basis. No punishment would be such as to hurt more than losing his best friend and the responsibility he bears in that loss.”

Prosecutor Mark Kellett told the court Wilson bought the silver Megane for £100 from a scrapyard the day before the fatal smash.

He had smoked a cannabis joint with others before setting off with his brother and friends.

The court heard how the car clipped a curb while travellng at 60 miles per hour round a corner.

Wilson told cops: “I should have been going slower, even slower round the corner maybe.”

Tests later showed that although Wilson had no alcohol in his blood he gave a reading of twice the driving limit for cannabis.

Wilson admitted causing Latham’s death by dangerous driving, causing another serious injury by dangerous driving, driving without insurance, driving without a licence, failing to stop at the scene of an accident, failing to report an accident and failing to have a valid MOT certificate.

Recorder of Bolton Judge Timothy Clayson sentenced Wilson to three years and 10 months in jail for killing Latham and a concurrent 18-month prison term for injuring the other pasenger.

He imposed no separate penalties for other offences and disqualified him from driving for four years and 10 months.

Jailing the 18-year-old, the judge told Wilson: “Your friend Latham died at the scene. It has inevitably had a profound effect on his family.

“No sentence I can pass can remedy their loss. In any view this is a tragic case.”

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