Family anger at sentence on fatal crash driver, 19
Relatives at Swansea Crown Court were angered by the sentencing
- Published
A 19-year-old has been jailed for six years for killing two teens in a crash after speeding at more than twice the limit.
Relatives of the victims claimed the sentence on Owain Hammett-George was "insulting" after he drove at an average 70-78mph in a 30mph zone in Bishopston, Swansea, in 2022.
He lost control of the car, which smashed into a concrete pillar of a garage, Swansea Crown Court heard.
Ben Rogers and Kaitlyn Davies, both 19, died at the scene and 17-year-old Casey Thomas was taken to hospital with a brain injury and a broken neck.
Owain Hammett-George was jailed for six years and is disqualified from driving for eight years
Hammett-George passed his driving test in February 2022 and within three days he was driving dangerously, the court heard.
Ben's sister, Ashleigh Rogers, called the sentence "an insult to all of our families - the sentencing he's had is nowhere near what it should have been".
She said "it would never have been enough regardless of what he got, but it's truly heartbreaking."
Ben's mother, Carla King, said "a couple of years in prison is not good enough".
Ms King said the families had wanted to campaign for change since the crash, "and now court is over we will."
Among the changes they want are for every new driver to have a black box fitted in their vehicle for two years, and to have a curfew.
Kimberley Davies, Kaitlyn's mother, said she knew there were sentencing guidelines for judges but added: "He's taken two innocent lives here. its horrific, it's disgusting, that's all he’s had."
She believes the age for young people learning to drive should be increased.
"Even if they raised it up to 19 they'd be a bit more mature," she said.
Three months before the fatal crash, Hammett-George's dad Dewi George lied and said he was speeding so his son would avoid getting points and a possible ban.
George later pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and was jailed for four months in July 2023.
He and his wife - who was in tears - were in court to watch their son sentenced to a juvenile detention centre.
Prosecutor Ian Wright told the court that, on 31 May 2022, Hammett-George had picked up Kasey and Kaitlyn from work, intending to drop them home.
Ben and Kaitlyn were sitting in the back of the Alpha Romeo when Hammett-George hit a grass bank after speeding, sending his car flying through the air and rolling.
All three were thrown from the car and Mr Wright said police called the aftermath "the worst collision damage they have ever witnessed".
Kaitlyn Davies and Ben Rogers were killed in the crash
Text messages from both the defendant's mother and sister showed, within days of him passing his test, Hammett-George was regularly driving dangerously over the next few months.
On 28 February, two days after passing his test, Hammett-George got a speeding fine for driving at 35mph in a 30mph zone - but this is the fine his dad took for him.
Carla King, Ben Rogers’s mother, stood to address Owain while reading her witness statement.
She said her son was “kind” and a “social butterfly”, adding: “I will always be proud of him, he saw the good in people and he saw the good in you. He trusted you and got into your car.
“My last vision of my son was lying on a slab unrecognizable, with his smile gone.”
Owain Hammett-George was jailed for six years
Kaitlyn's mother stood alongside Kaitlyn's father, Jeffrey Draper as she read her victim impact statement to the court.
She said: "We lost our daughter, she was meant to be having a lift home from work - she must have felt so alone."
She said her daughter was "amazing", "bubbly" and a "loyal friend".
Visibly emotional, Ms Davies said it was "practically impossible to imagine a life without her".
She also read out a statement on behalf of her younger son, Kaitlyn's brother, which said: "I am now only 17 years old and shouldn't have to deal with all of this pain. It hurts too much."
Dewi George admitted to perverting the course of justice by taking his son's points when he was caught speeding
Judge Geraint Walters, sentencing Hammett-George, said he had been driving at "grossly excessive speeds" and he was "showing off".
"You drove at grossly excessive speeds to the point where you lost control of the vehicle and immediately effectively extinguished the lives of two of those in the car.
"I have no shadow of a doubt that you purposefully took the decision to exceed the speed limit.
He said Hammett-George was "immature" and "overindulged" by his parents, as shown by his father taking his speeding points.
The judge told him: “It wasn’t inexperience that caused you to speed, it was your disregard."
Had Hammett-George been an adult at the time of the offence, Judge Walters said he would have given him the maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
Instead he will be jailed for six years and disqualified from driving for eight.