Drink-driver who killed friends gets five years

A DRUNKEN teenage driver who killed three friends in an horrific car crash was jailed yesterday for five years - the maximum for dangerous driving under the old law.

The accident happened shortly before tougher legislation to combat joyriding and dangerous driving increased the upper limit to 10 years for causing deaths.

Jonathan Whippey, 19, of Llantwit Major, South Glamorgan, admitted causing death by dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol. He was the sole survivor when he swerved his speeding Ford Fiesta into the path of a Datsun Cherry near Cowbridge, South Glamorgan, last August. He was thrown clear and escaped with minor injuries as the car rolled over and burst into flames. His friends Martin Cullen and Denzil Harper, both 19, and Stacey Perryman, 20, died.

Stephen Hopkins QC, for the prosecution, had told the court earlier that before the fatal accident Whippey was seen going through a red light and deliberately weaving from side to side on the road. In the fatal crash on the A48, the Fiesta was seen weaving dangerously in traffic, overtaking other cars. At the top of a hill, Whippey collided with an oncoming car, injuring a woman passenger and the male driver.

Afterwards, at the crash scene, a motorist who stopped to help asked Whippey if he had been drinking. 'I've had a couple. That's my insurance gone,' he was heard to reply.

Passing sentence at Cardiff Crown Court, Mr Justice Curtis told Whippey: 'You showed utter disregard for the safety of anybody else who might be on the road.' The judge also banned him from driving for six years.