19 December 2023 , 11:21
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A baby faced danger driver who killed a 20-year-old woman after going at more than double the speed limit on a pitch-black dual carriageway has been jailed.
"Breathtakingly dangerous" Declan Stubbs was careering along the unlit road at 146mph in a Ford Fiesta ST before losing control of the vehicle, hitting a central barrier and a tree before rolling several times into a field. Seconds earlier the 22-year-old had told friends "not to worry and to chill" as they urged him to slow down.
Teegan Waters, 20, who Stubbs had been giving a lift at the time amidst a blossoming romance, was killed in the disaster on the road near Blyth, Northumberland, on August 20, 2022. Two other friends who had been in the car at the time were also badly injured.
Newcastle Crown Court heard Ms Waters has been out in Blyth that evening and bumped into pals David Goward, 18, and Mark Chrisp, 19, at a nightclub. The three then left together as she called Stubbs asking for a lift, and all three got in the car.
Jolyon Perks, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Goward at one point looked up from his phone to see the speedometer was displaying 148mph, while Mr Chrisp claimed he saw it inch as far as "150 or 157mph". He asked him to slow down but was told "not to worry and to chill".
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Mr Perks said: "Seconds later the defendant lost control of that vehicle." After the car came to rest in a field, Mr Goward managed to climb out of a rear window but found to his horror that everyone else was unconscious.
Teegan was described as 'beautiful' and a talented dancer (Chonicle Live)He pulled friend Mark out and tried to remove Teegan, Chronicle Live reports, but was unable to do so due to the amount of damage the car had suffered. He was unable to detect a pulse on Teegan as she had suffered unsurvivable injuries.
Mr Goward suffered fractures to his sternum and elbow and had air in his chest wall, bruising to his eye, cuts to his ear, skull and hand and a laceration to his arm. Mr Chrisp meanwhile had fractures to his spine and needed an operation to insert rods which will be there for life and continue to cause pain.
GPS data from the car showed that as he entered a right hand bend before losing control, he was doing 146mph at the time. He told police in an interview he was doing "72 or something" and said his driving was "good as far as I can remember". A breathalyser came back negative for alcohol but tests found cannabis and cocaine in his system, although they were below the limit for driving.
In a heart-breaking victim impact statement read out on her behalf in court, Teegan's mum Lindsay Waters said she had been paralysed by grief and that she had attempted to take her own life after losing her daughter. She described her as an aspiring dance teacher who was "the most beautiful, kind and thoughtful girl who always put others first".
"This is something no one should go through or experience," Ms Waters said. "The only feeling I have now is numbness. Having to relive events every day is emotionally and physically draining." She added: "All I'm left with now is the memory of my beautiful girl and the dreams when she comes to visit."
Stubbs was jailed for nine years and eight months on Monday after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He was was also banned from driving for five years after his release. Judge Julie Clemitson described the crash as "tragic and utterly needless" but that ultimately he "didn't set out to kill anyone".
"I've no doubt you have wished you could turn back the clock and regret bitterly what you did that night. I have no doubt you will be haunted beyond regret for the rest of your life."
- Anyone struggling with grief, suicidal thoughts or their mental health can call Samaritans 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on 116 123.