Speeding driver killed pal after clowning around just a month after passing test

08 October 2023 , 14:18

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Chantelle Thomas died at the scene of the crash (Image: Family handout/Media Wales)

A driver who was speeding and "clowning around" when she crashed and killed her best friend had only passed her test one month earlier, a court heard.

Tayla King, 18, lost control of her car while driving on a straight stretch of road and crashed down an embankment and into a tree, causing her passenger Chantelle Thomas, catastrophic injuries. Despite the best efforts of passing motorists who stopped to help - including a passing police officer who was driving home at the end of his shift - as well as firefighters and paramedics, 18-year-old Miss Thomas could not be saved and died at the scene.

Sentencing the teen driver at Swansea Crown Court, a judge said a young life was an "incalculable blessing" to their parents, and that no sentence a court could pass could bring comfort to those who were grieving nor put a value on a life. Ian Wright, prosecuting 18-year-old King, said that she had only held a full driving licence for some 33 days when, on the night of January 22 last year, she drove two friends from their homes in the Swansea Valley to Mumbles and back.

The court heard the manner of King's driving caused concern to her passengers throughout that evening, with the teenager driving at speed, occasionally drifting into the opposite lane, and leaving braking at red traffic lights so late it was feared she would not actually be able to stop in time.

One incident during the journey came when King had been travelling at speed around the sharp bend near the "Big Apple" kiosk in Mumbles when she ended up on the wrong side of the road. Fortunately, there had been no oncoming vehicles, reports Wales Online.

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The prosecutor said warnings to the driver and appeals for her to slow down from her passengers went unheeded. On the return journey back up the Swansea Valley the defendant was seen to be doing around 90mph on the approach to the Pontardawe roundabout.

The court heard one of the passengers was dropped off at her home in Alltwen leaving just King and Miss Thomas in the Citroen C1, a car which had been a birthday present for the defendant from her father. At just after 1.15am the next morning the car left the main A4067 Swansea Valley road between Pontardawe and Godre'r Graig and crashed down an embankment and into a tree. Mr Wright said the Citroen suffered "extensive damage" in the collision.

King was able to extricate herself from the car and returned to the road where she flagged down a passing motorist, British Transport Police officer Rhys Lewis who was driving home at the end of his shift. The court heard King told the officer: "I've crashed and I think I've killed my friend".

The off-duty officer advised King to sit in the car of another motorist who had stopped at the scene, and the defendant was heard to say "I was speeding and clowning around... going too fast and showing off". The court heard the policeman then went to the crashed car and stayed with the gravely injured passenger until paramedics arrived. Miss Thomas had to be cut from the car by firefighters.

However, despite the best efforts of paramedics who provided advanced life support, she could not be saved and was pronounced dead at the scene at 2.53am. Her cause of death was later established as multiple injuries including severe brain injuries as a passenger in a road traffic collision. The driver was also injured in the smash and spent a week in hospital being treated for a fractured pelvis and collar bone as well as spleen and kidney injuries.

During two subsequent police interviews she answered "no comment" to all questions asked. Tayla King, now aged 20, of Church Street, Pontardawe, had previously pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving when she appeared in the dock for sentencing. She has no previous convictions.

Judge Huw Rees said every human life was precious and a young life was an "incalculable blessing" to their parents. No words and no sentence the court could pass would provide comfort to the family and friends of Miss Thomas, and no sentence could - nor was intended to - put a value on a life.

The judge said a friend who had been in the car on the night in question had described King's driving as erratic, and that she was driving too fast. He came to the conclusion that the defendant's driving had been "generally poor". He said it was important for all to understand that the defendant was not being sentenced for purposeful killing but for causing death by careless driving.

Judge Rees said the starting point on the sentencing guidelines was one of two years detention, and balancing out the aggravating and mitigation factors brought that figure down to 21 months - with a one-third discount for the guilty plea the sentence was reduced to 14 months.

King was sentenced to 14 months detention in a young offenders institution suspended for 12 months, and was also banned from driving for two years and ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work. The judge commended the public spiritedness of the off-duty police officer and the others who helped at the roadside should be commended, and he said he wanted to extended the court's sincere condolences to the family of Miss Thomas.