Teenage driver locked up for killing boy

A speeding teenage driver who collided with a 10-year-old boy and left him dying in the road as he fled the scene was sentenced to 30 months in a young offenders' institution today.

John Smith, 18, wept as he was sentenced at York Crown Court for causing the death of Sean Hamilton by careless driving.

The "lively and engaging" youngster was hit by a Ford Transit van as he crossed a road after a trip to the cinema with his 12-year-old sister and two friends in York.

He was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to York District Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The court was told Smith was driving at 47mph in a 30mph zone, with a witness claiming "thumping" music was coming from the vehicle.

After the collision, he got out of his vehicle and allegedly looked at the dying boy, before running away from the scene with a friend and a relative.

The next day he handed himself into police but initially refused to accept he was driving too fast until a report into the collision concluded otherwise.

The Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, condemned his "irresponsible" behaviour and said if he had observed the speed limit there was a chance the collision could have been avoided.

He told him: "You were driving far too fast. Too fast to allow young Sean to react and too fast to give yourself any chance of avoiding him.

"There was then a quite dreadful collision in which Sean was struck by your vehicle, he was dragged beneath the wheels."

The judge said Sean's sister Stephanie and her friends went to help the fatally injured youngster, while in "stark contrast" Smith fled the scene with "self-preservation" in mind.

He added: "You had neither the maturity, the courage nor the decency, to check on Sean's welfare or to face up to the devastation your careless driving had caused.

"Rather than stop to help you and your two passengers simply abandoned your van and ran off into the night.

"Whether or not panic played a part in that decision it tends to show that evening an indifference and lack of concern for the consequences and the suffering of others.

"In this case your irresponsible behaviour in failing to stop at the scene when you had struck a young boy was a seriously aggravating aspect. Such behaviour compounded the grief of Sean's family."

Smith, of Lynwith Lane, Carlton, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving.

He entered guilty pleas to two further charges of failure to stop at the scene and failure to report the accident.

The court was told he has three points on his licence for using a mobile phone while driving and convictions for robbery and non-dwelling house burglary.

The court was told Sean stepped into Holgate Road on October 3 last year and waited for a moving car which was heading towards the city centre to go by.

He then moved quickly as if to cross the road but the court was told he either tripped or stumbled and was hit by Smith's speeding van.

He initially received a glancing blow before being dragged under the rear of the vehicle.

Witnesses said they heard one of the occupants shout "leg it" as they fled the scene, the court was told.

In mitigation Taryn Turner said her client was full of genuine remorse for his actions and said he fled the scene in "blind panic".

She added: "He is devastated by what has happened here. That is something he will have to live with and come to terms with as is the case for the family who have lost their son and brother."

Outside court Sean's parents, Ronnie and Sharon, said they were relieved Smith had come forward.

They said: "Smith did the right thing eventually, he did the right thing and accepted his responsibilities. We have no wish to ruin another life, enough lives have been ruined."