‘Blood on hands’of parents who gave death crash teen his powerful BMW
A JUDGE called the parents of a teenager who caused a fatal crash “crass” and said they had “blood on their hands” for buying him a powerful sports car.
William Sherriff, 18, was given a suspended sentence yesterday for causing the death of promising young footballer Luca Skivington by careless driving last August.
Sherriff who had passed his driving test three days earlier, lost control on a country lane and the 1.8-litre BMW was hurled into the air for more than 30 yards before hitting an electrical sub-station.
Front seat passenger Luca, 17, died and another friend, Ollie Masters, later took his life after developing post traumatic stress disorder, Aylesbury
Crown Court heard.
Judge Francis Sheridan said yesterday: “The buying of that BMW was the crassest decision that any of us will ever witness.
“Please, when your child passes their driving test, buy them a little, low-powered banger, putting it bluntly, rather than a high-powered super killer. That is a plea to all parents of sixth formers.”
He told Sherriff’s parents: “You should be ashamed of yourselves letting him drive that car. You have got blood on your hands.”
Jonathan Stone, prosecuting, said Sherriff put the car into sports mode as he took three teenage friends for a test drive in Beaconsfield, Bucks.
Luca, he said, would have died instantly from “an extremely severe non-survivable head injury”.
The BMW’s SOS system alerted the maker’s call centre in Germany, which contacted Thames Valley Police.
Mr Stone said when officers arrived Sherriff was shouting that he was the driver, screaming Luca’s name and saying: “I can’t live with myself.”
In a victim impact statement, Luca’s father Glenn said: “Imagine trying to process the realisation that the crash was not an accident but a predictable, tragic outcome of some idiot showing off in a new car he was not capable of driving and should not have been allowed to drive.”
Edward Butler, defending, said Sherriff, who pleaded guilty, had since attempted suicide twice and lost his job with a PR firm.
But members of Luca’s family walked out of the courtroom when Judge Sheridan spared Sherriff, of Flackwell Heath, Bucks, jail.
He received a six-month term suspended for two years, 80 hours’ unpaid work and 24 days of rehabilitation. He was also banned from driving for two years and ordered to take an extended retest.
Explaining his sentencing decision, the judge told Sherriff: “Part of the reason, let me tell you, is your own mental health.”