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A young driver caused the death of a “beautiful” teenager in a horror smash after his friend “encouraged” him to lift the car off the road.
Craig Graham was behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta with three other teenage passengers on August 28, last year as he drove around County Durham. But during the journey, Graham’s front seat passenger “encouraged” him by saying “fly me, motherf*****” on a stretch of road they both knew was bumpy.
It was then that Graham decided to try and lift the car into the air, and hit the blind summit at more than 70mph, resulting in all four wheels coming off the narrow B-road. But the 19-year-old lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a stone wall, killing his backseat passenger, 18-year-old Georgia Duncan, instantly.
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The horror smash left two other passengers with serious injuries, with Graham’s front-seat passenger – Georgia’s boyfriend – suffering multiple fractures, spinal injuries and being in a coma for six that day. Another passenger, another girl, also suffered a fractured spine that required a titanium rod to be fixed.
Graham, of Welford Road, Consett, appeared at Durham Crown Court on Friday to be sentenced for death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He pleaded guilty to the charges.
Vincent Ward, prosecuting, said Graham and his passengers were driving around County Durham in a Ford Fiesta while listening to loud music. He said a dash cam in the vehicle recorded the journey and a man, understood to be Graham’s front seat passenger, could be heard saying “get some air”.
Mr Ward said: “The defendant then said ‘don’t ad***, I don’t jump cars’. The defendant then took the next left onto Potterhouse Lane at Pity Me. At 6.19 of the night, the same voice [as the front seat passenger] can be heard encouraging her, saying ‘fly me motherf*****’. The car kept speeding up.”
The court heard Graham drove over a “blind summit” at high speed and all four wheels lifted off the road, but he lost control and crashed into a rock wall. Mr Ward said according to the car’s dash cam, it was driven at least 72mph before it stopped moments before the car lifted off the road.
Another motorist going in the opposite direction witnessed the crash and said all four wheels of the car were about “four feet” off the road and “completely flying”. Mr Ward said there were warning signs ahead of the blind summit, which Graham “obviously ignored”. When emergency services arrived, Georgia was sadly pronounced dead at the scene, with two other passengers seriously injured.
The court heard Graham’s front seat passenger suffered an “open fracture” to his wrist and had to be resuscitated in hospital. Another female passenger – with severe chest injuries – was lying unconscious in the vehicle. Both are still being treated. Graham, who has no previous convictions, has no memory of the crash.
In a statement, Georgia’s mum said her daughter, who is from Tantobie, was a “beautiful young woman and special daughter who became the center of our world”.
Richard Herrmann, defending, said the incident was “tragic”, and said the crash happened within seconds. He said: “He was showing off and driving very fast”. He added that Graham was “really sorry” and had been close friends with Georgia.
Judge James Adkin, sentencing Graham, told the court he had made the “deliberate decision to get a thrill out of getting the car’s tires off the road”. He said: “You and your friends are listening to music while your front seat passenger gets out to encourage you to get some air. Both you and he know the road is bumpy and you decide to try to lift the car off the ground. That’s what happened, with dire consequences for everyone in that vehicle.”
Graham was jailed for 58 months and banned from driving for seven years and two months. He must complete an extended driving test if he wants his license back.
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