Teenager jailed for killing cousin in car crash

A teenage driver who ran over his two cousins as they walked home from school has been jailed for four years. Nathan Hennessey, 19, killed 11-year-old Megan Hennessey and left her 16-year-old sister, Sophie, in a coma when he hit them with his car as they crossed the road on their way home from school in Thorne, South Yorkshire, on 27 November 2008.

The court heard that Hennessey was stuck in a queue of traffic and was "leapfrogging" cars to get ahead in the line. Judge Peter Jones, at Sheffield Crown Court, also disqualified Hennessey from driving for 10 years. The court was told how Hennessey, who has a previous conviction for careless driving, had denied a charge of death by dangerous driving, but changed his plea to a guilty one just before going on trial at Doncaster Crown Court.

Speaking after the sentencing, the girls' father, Andrew Hennessey, said: "It's been an horrendous year, horrendous. The family has been torn apart."