A young woman from Derby has been jailed for killing her 17-year-old friend during a drink-driving accident after she lost control of her car and smashed into a tree. Derby Crown Court heard Melissa Keilloh told her mother she was 'too drunk' to drive before she got behind the wheel after a party on October 22, 2021.
However, she decided to drive anyway while over the drink-drive limit and sped down country lanes before clipping a kerb on a corner and crashing into a tree. Phoebe Johnson, who was a passenger in the car at the time, tragically lost her life as a result of the awful incident, the Derby Telegraph reports.
In a victim impact statement read to the judge by her father Paul who is a retired police officer, he said his hatred of the defendant 'is only matched by the love for my daughter and that's the only thing that keeps me going'. Judge Shaun Smith KC jailed Keilloh for three years as he said: "Where does one begin when the driving of someone has changed the lives of so many forever? I have watched the entirety of that journey which ended in tragedy".
"For the first seven or eight minutes there was nothing remarkable about your driving but when you ended up in rural areas it is there your foot very clearly hits the accelerator. I have no doubt your state of inebriation, the loud music, the group mentality and the empty roads caused you to drive in the way you did.
"Your careless acts in that car caused the death of Phoebe. There is no price on a human's life, there never can be and I am not putting one on Phoebe's. Sentencing does not allow an eye for an eye whatever people might think."
Sarah Slater prosecuting told the court that the accident took place on the A514 between Stanton by Bridge and Ticknall in October 2021. She said during the evening of October 22, a gathering was held by the defendant at her sister's address in Sunny Hill.
The prosecutor said: "Joshua Clapp and his girlfriend Bethany Waite attended, along with the defendant’s cousin Tia Clarke and her friend Phoebe Johnson. They all went back to the address and started chatting and then played drinking games."
Miss Slater said that during the party, Mr Clapp remembered a phone conversation between Melissa and her mother where she was told not to drive. She said: "The defendant replied 'don’t worry, I’m too drunk for that, my car keys are up by the door'.
"Tia Clarke has provided a video-recorded interview. She confirms that at around 1am they decided to go out for a drive. Phoebe Johnson was in the rear and the defendant drove.
"She thought it was a group decision to go out to listen to music and drive around – they had often done this without any real reason for it. Phoebe was sat in the middle of the vehicle, her back was not against the rear of the seat and she (Miss Clarke) thinks she (Phoebe) was not wearing her seat belt."
Miss Slater said the fatal collision occurred at around 12.25am. She said: "Tia Clarke thinks that the defendant lost control on a bend and may have clipped the kerb.
"They went through a hedge and the vehicle flipped – possibly onto the roof but she had closed her eyes. After the vehicle stopped, she turned and realised that Phoebe Johnson must have been ejected from the vehicle through the rear window and so they got out to look for her."
Miss Slater told the court the group found Phoebe in the field and the defendant was heard shouting: "She’s here, I’ve killed Phoebe." She went on to say PC Matthew Lacey used dashcam footage to provide a report in relation to the speeds involved and discovered the defendant was driving at around 44mph in a 30mph zone.
She said at the point prior to the nearside bend the speed was calculated at around 67mph in a speed limit of 60mph and that just seconds prior to the point of impact, the car had been travelling at 72mph. Examinations of the defendant's Seat Leon car was found to have no defects.
Miss Slater added in footage and audio from the dashcam Phoebe can be heard saying 'I'm scared' to which the defendant replies: "No you’re not, I’m fine, cos I'm sober now". The prosecutor said Keilloh failed a roadside breath test at the scene and blood taken more than two hours later saw her give a reading which only just passed.
However a back-calculation of what she had to drink saw her fail the second test. Phoebe's death was a result of fatal head and neck injuries and she was taken to the intensive care unit at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham where she passed away at around 5am the same day.
Her father Paul Johnson, a retired police officer, read his own victim impact statement to the court. In an emotional statement he said: "Most people awake from a nightmare, we wake up every morning to a nightmare.
"Phoebe was a wonderful girl, high-spirited, pretty, athletic and young. Our 17-year-old daughter was killed by your eagerness to show off. My hatred of you is only matched by the love for my daughter and that's the only thing that keeps me going."
Keilloh, of Brookdale Road, Hartshorne who has has no previous convictions was handed a three year prison sentence after pleading guilty to causing death through careless driving while over the legal drink-drive limit. Steve Cobley, her barrister, said: "The words 'I'm sorry' are not enough and can never be enough.
"Nothing she says can right the wrongs she caused that night. It is very unlikely this is a young lady who will ever trouble the courts again. She understands she has to be punished and it will be a severe punishment for this defendant. It will be her first taste of the custodial environment."
In addition to her sentence, Judge Smith disqualified Keilloh from driving for six and a half years.
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