4 years is not even a year for a life.. that’s not justice
Families of 5 dead slam joyrider’s term
GRIEVING relatives of five young passengers killed by a teenage joyrider have slammed his sentence of four-and-a-half years as “not justice”.
The 15-year-old member of a Fagin-style burglary gang was driving a stolen car when the “catastrophic” smash claimed the lives of three teenagers and two others.
He was told he will serve only half of his term to the distress of his victims’ families. The youngest victim was aged just 12. Outside court, Elise Dhers, the sister of 15-year-old Darnell Harte killed in the smash, said: “We have to live with the sight of seeing my little brother through a window with his face smashed in. Four years is not even a year for a life.” His other sister Natasha added: “That’s not justice.”
The Mirror understands the car was stolen after the youngest victim snatched the keys from a Wilko store.
It is believed the eldest victims may have recruited younger children for house raids.
The car hurtled through Leeds for four hours before hitting a tree at 88mph at just before 10pm on November 25 last year.
The teenager – the only one wearing a seat belt – fled from the scene.
The victims were brothers Ellis and Elliott Thornton-Kimmitt, 12 and 15, Darnell and Robbie Meerun and Anthony Armour, both 24. Judge Peter Collier QC told the driver, who cannot be named, the night would “forever shape your life”.
He admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was given a five-year road ban.