PAIR JAILED OVER KELLY DEATH CRASH
TWO young drivers who killed a woman while engaged in a “pathetic and immature” 90mph race on a busy main road have been jailed.
Kelly Kennedy was killed by Liam Price and Cory Kedward as the pair raced their high-performance hatchbacks side-by-side along the main Swansea Valley road.
Their 25-year-old victim had just booked a dream round-the-world trip with friends – including a spell as volunteer in an elephant sanctuary in Thailand – when she died at their hands.
Her family described the aspiring social worker as the “glue” that held them all together.
Price had previously pleaded guilty to causing Miss Kennedy’s death by dangerous driving when he appeared at Swansea Crown Court for sentencing – Kedward had denied the same charge, saying he had not been involved in any racing, but was convicted following a trial.
Jailing them, a judge said a message had to go out to young male motorists who put people at risk through their driving that they could expect considerable prison sentences.
At 10pm on July 4, 2016, Miss Kennedy finished work in the Swansea Valley and began the drive down the main A4067 towards home in Clydach – her Ford Ka was the first car in a line of traffic heading from Pontardawe.
Coming in the opposite direction were Kedward, in his Vauxhall Astra SRi, and Price in his Honda Civic Sport. Just after the Glais roundabout, Kedward and Price overtook a slower moving car in front of them – then began to race one another.
At speeds touching 90mph the pair – both 21 at the time – raced “side-by-side” along the road, Kedward in the nearside lane, Price in offside lane.
Neither slowed down nor showed any sign of wanting to “give in” to the other – Price ploughed headlong into Miss Kennedy’s car in a “huge impact” which killed her instantly. Kedward, whose car had not been caught up in the crash, drove off from the scene.
It emerged in court that Price had been racing with another man around Ynysforgan roundabout earlier that day, and, after being arrested at the scene of the fatal crash, police found a brief video he had shot on his mobile phone showing himself doing 120mph along the M4 near Llansamlet in the early hours.
This M4 speeding incident formed a second charge – that of dangerous driving – which Price had also previously pleaded guilty to.
The court heard former Bishop Vaughan and Gorseinon College student Miss Kennedy wanted to be a social worker.
In a victim impact statement read to court, Miss Kennedy’s mother Tracy described her as “fantastic people person” with her life in front of her.
In a statement read on behalf of her dad, Paul, he said that having to identify his daughter’s body was the most difficult thing he had ever done, and something that would live with him every day of his life.
He described Miss Kennedy as his wife’s best friend and “a beautiful young girl with everything to live for”.
He added the family had been “broken” because of the stupidity of the defendants, and “we lost a piece of ourselves that night”.
Lee Davies, for Price, said his client had pleaded guilty, even in the knowledge that Kedward was intending to plead not guilty and blame him for what happened.
Price had submitted a letter to the court in which he apologised to Miss Kennedy’s family, and said he hated himself for what he had done.
Stephen Donnelly, for Kedward, described the events of July 4, 2016, as a tragic incident, and his client’s involvement in the fatal crash was “10 to 15 seconds of madness”.
Judge Paul Thomas QC told the defendants they had shown no regard for the safety of others.
He characterised their behaviour as “obscene and immature brinkmanship” as they sped at 90mph along the road.
The judge said of Kedward that in his 30 years in law he had never seen such a display of “whining self-pity” as the defendant gave in the witness box.
Judge Thomas told Kedward he had lacked “even the common humanity” to stop at the scene of the crash.
Kedward, aged 23, of Ynyswen, Penycae in the upper Swansea Valley, was sentenced to seven years in prison, Price, also 23, of Maes y Ysgol, Pontardawe, to a total of six years and four months.
Each will serve half those terms before being released on licence, and will be banned from driving for five years from the halfway point of the sentences.
In an emotional statement read out on the steps of the court by Tracy Kennedy, the family said justice had been done for Miss Kennedy, and added: “Kelly was a loving, kind, caring young lady who lived life to the full.”