A driver who inhaled laughing gas at the wheel has been jailed for nine years and four months after he admitted killing his three teenage passengers in a high-speed crash.
Thomas Johnson, 19, had admitted to taking nitrous oxide through balloons while driving and exceeding speeds of more than 100mph on a road with a speed limit of 30mph.
He pleaded guilty to causing the deaths earlier on Wednesday at Oxford Crown Court.
Addressing Johnson, Judge Emma Nott said his actions were “all for teenage thrills” and he would be “forever defined” by his “teenage mistakes”.
Daniel Hancock, 18, Ethan Goddard, 18, and Elliot Pullen, 17, died in the crash in Marcham, Oxfordshire, in June last year.
Their families have spoken of being “united by grief” by the tragedy and hope the sentence “will serve as a deterrent” to others.
Mobile phone video footage taken inside the BMW 3 series, moments before it crashed, showed the boys laughing and passing nitrous oxide canisters to the front while Johnson had a balloon to his face.
The tyres can be heard screeching as the vehicle drifts around a corner at high speed.
Thames Valley Police also released an ANPR photo of the driver and front passenger with balloons to their mouths.
CCTV footage shows the vehicle overtaking another car at more than 100mph. Police say the vehicle’s electronic stability control had been deliberately switched off.
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Johnson, who sustained life-threatening injuries in the crash, says he does not remember what happened.
In a police interview afterwards, he revealed he was aware of the risks.
Asked if he had ever taken nitrous oxide, Johnson responded: “No, not this year. I remember doing it once last year with a group of friends before I could even drive but I don’t have any recollection after that.”
Asked if he remembered what the effect of it was, Johnson replied: “It made my head feel dizzy.”
During his sentencing, the court heard how Johnson had had a troubled upbringing as his mother, with whom he shared an “extremely strong bond” suffered a stroke shortly before he was born and was significantly disabled as a result.
She then died when Johnson was just 10, while his father had left his mother some 18 months previously and he was at the time estranged from him.
Families hope sentence is ‘deterrent’
Commenting on the case, a joint family statement said: “No amount of imprisonment will bring our sons back home and we take little comfort in the sentencing of someone else’s son.
“However, we do hope that this will serve as a deterrent to other drivers, especially young men.
“If just one person adjusts their attitude to driving, or one person thinks twice about being a passenger along for the ride then there is hope that something good can come out of this tragedy.”
‘Permanent living nightmare’
Elliot Pullen’s parents, Kate and Giles, and his sister Mia issued a separate statement describing their sense of loss and being “united by grief” in what was a “permanent living nightmare”. They said they had been “sucked into a world of grief, sadness and pain”.
The parents of Ethan Goddard paid tribute, writing that he “was a fun, loving, kind, generous, caring young lad, always thinking of others, and getting the most out of life”.
They added he “was loved so very much and made his family so proud”.
Meanwhile, Daniel Hancock’s family said in a statement he “was truly loved and will always be missed. He was caring, generous and selfless.”
And they issued a warning to other young drivers.
“Daniel died three miles from home in a completely avoidable crash. Please don’t be that driver who shows such disregard for their friends’ lives.”
Detective Sergeant Tony Jenkins, of Thames Valley Police’s serious collisions investigative unit, explained that nitrous oxide impairs a driver’s ability to make decisions.
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He warned about the risks of driving while under the influence, especially around Christmas time, when people are in a particularly celebratory mood.
“Any impairment while driving is inherently dangerous. It is reckless,” he told Sky News.
“In this case, the use of nitrous oxide took place over a number of hours and even up to 30 seconds before the crash consumption was taking place.”
The recreational use of nitrous oxide was banned by the government months after Johnson’s car crash but drug driving has long been illegal.
