Sean Smith

A drunken joyrider involved in an horrific smash that killed two 15-year-olds has been locked up for five years.

Nineteen-year-old Sean Smith's actions to avoid arrest as the boy and girl lay dying in the wreckage were branded "despicable" by a judge.

The stolen Peugeot 206 in which all three were travelling was virtually sliced in half when it stuck a wall with such force that homes nearby shook, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

Isaac Bishop, 15, of Thornton Road, Bradford, who had been driving, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Back seat passenger, Chloe Benn, also 15, of Derby Street, Great Horton, Bradford, died in Bradford Royal Infirmary shortly afterwards.

Prosecutor Nigel Hamilton said Smith, the front seat passenger, was, miraculously, almost unhurt. He sustained only a two-inch cut to his temple. Mr Hamilton said that although Smith was seen sitting with his head in his hands near the wreckage, he lied to police at the scene.

He told officers he was not in the car but jumped out of the way when he saw it coming, hitting his head on a wall.

He also asked someone to throw a screwdriver into the bushes for him.

Smith, whose address cannot be disclosed for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to burgling a safe containing cash, jewellery and the Peugeot keys from a house in Thornton Road on November 23 last year.

He also admitted two charges of aggravated vehicle taking involving the fatal accident on November 30.

Mr Hamilton said Smith and Bishop teamed up with a 14-year-old girl to steal the safe. She had been dealt with at Bingley Youth Court.

The trio plundered £1,400 from the safe after forcing it open in a derelict building in Thornton.

Mr Hamilton said the haul included the spare keys to the family's Peugeot 206 which Smith and Bishop hid in Allerton.

Arrested the next day, Smith told police he spent some of the stolen cash on clothes, cannabis and alcohol.

He was released on police bail on November 25 while the burglary was further investigated.

Five days later Smith and Bishop were seen drinking in a park, Mr Hamilton said.

Bishop told friends he was "going to get his car" and held up the stolen keys.

At about 10.20pm, Bishop drove the Peugeot from the family's drive, with Smith sitting next to him. They picked up Chloe Benn.

Witnesses spoke of the car veering in the road at high speed as it travelled about half a mile into Thornton village.

Bishop lost control on the corner of Kipping Lane and hit a house wall at speed.

There was a large explosion as the car rebounded and struck two parked vehicles. Smoke billowed from the wreckage and debris was flung across the road.

The noise was so loud a nearby tradesman thought ram raiders were after his cash machine.

After his arrest Smith told officers none of the three were wearing seatbelts and it was the first time Bishop had driven a vehicle.

Anne-Marie Hutton, Smith's barrister, said all parties in the tragic case were victims.

Smith had shown genuine remorse and contrition and would have to live with the consequences for the rest of his life. His family was loving and supportive and he wanted to train to be a mechanic, she said.

Judge Robert Bartfield said Smith knew Bishop was drunk yet he allowed him to drive.

"You should have stopped him, and you could have done, but you didn't."

The judge said that after the crash, Smith's first thought was to save his own skin.

"Your reactions were despicable," he told him.

Judge Bartfield said if Smith had not been with him, Bishop would have been unlikely to have the courage or inclination to drive away the car.

Smith bore "a significant responsibility" for the deaths of Isaac Bishop and Chloe Benn, he said.

Judge Bartfield sent Smith to a young offender institution for 12 months for the burglary and four years for the aggravated vehicle taking offences, the sentences to run consecutively.

Smith was also banned from driving for 12 months.

After the case, relatives of the dead teenagers said they did not think the sentence long enough but nothing could bring back their loved ones.

6:11am Friday 28th March 2008

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