100mph phone video ended in fatal collision

A DRIVER smashed into a cottage in Wales while attempting to reach 100mph for a Snapchat video, killing his friend and injuring two other passengers.

Ricafort Gamboa, 25, raced along country lanes as he made his way home from a caravan holiday in west Wales while friends filmed his high-speed stunt on their mobile phones.

But as Gamboa neared speeds of 100mph approaching Aberystwyth, he lost control of his Citroen C3, which veered off the road and into the front of the rural cottage, demolishing a 16inch-thick stone wall. His friend, 18-year-old Ernest Pideli, was killed during the collision, while two other passengers were injured.

Appearing before Swansea Crown Court, Gamboa, of Johnson Fold Avenue, Bolton, admitted causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving. Recordings recovered from their mobile phones also showed the final moments leading up the crash, with Gamboa heard swearing as his car fishtailed, mounted a bank and then went across the A487 and into the cottage.

In a police interview conducted after the crash and played in court, Gamboa said: “I take full responsibility for what happened. My stupid decision to drive so fast was the cause of the collision. I deserve to be punished. I am deeply sorry for what happened.”

Defending, Charles Row said that Gamboa was so stricken with guilt he claimed that he wished he had been killed instead.

Judge Keith Thomas, sentencing, told Gamboa that he had used the road as a racetrack, as he jailed him for four years. Gamboa, a pizza restaurant manager, was also banned from driving for five years.