Drink driver killed friend in crash after she begged her to slow down
A teenager has been locked up after she killed her friend in a crash. Yasmin Martin was 17 when she got behind the wheel of a car while double the drink-driving limit.
She was driving three friends home from a night out including Mia Marsh, 17. A court heard the passengers told Martin to slow down before the collision, but she responded by speeding up.
One of the girls said she seemed to want to prove she could drive in the dangerous manner she was and that she was "like she was invincible, like she can do what she wants and no-one else is stopping her". She lost control on a bend at more than 70mph in a 30mph zone and smashed into a barrier.
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Mia died in the crash which took place on Friday, December 2 2022. Martin, of Aldwych Road, Sunderland, has now been jailed for eight years after she pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, ChronicleLive reports.
Mia's mum, Danielle, said via an impact statement which was read out in court: "The pain we, as a family, are going through is unimaginable." She added that Mia's loved ones sometimes imagine Mia is just out "but then reality kicks in at a million miles an hour. We want her here and now. We don't want her as a memory. We still think one day she will come bouncing back through the door singing and being cheerful like she was.
"We miss Mia an unbelievable amount, our hearts are forever broken. Mia was only 17 when she was tragically taken from us. She had her whole life to look forward to. You never know how if feels to lose a child or a sister until it happens to you."
The mum continued: "Due to her injuries no-one was allowed to identify her and she had to have a closed coffin. This made me doubt if it was really Mia and if it was a horrible mistake We will love Mia unconditionally until we meet again baby girl. Love you so much my Mia."
Martin, who passed her driving test in May 2022, was driving a Vauxhall Astra which her dad had hired that day. She had no experience of driving it before that evening and was not insured to do so.
The now 19-year-old regarded Mia, who she had known since nursery, as her closest friend at the time. She had picked up her and two others and they went drinking in six bars in Sunderland, where they all consumed pints of Strongbow dark fruits, Jagerbombs and vodka and Red Bulls.
An employee at one of the bars, when told by Martin her car was parked nearby, said "well I hope you're not driving" because it was obvious to him she was in no fit state to drive due to her intoxication. She said she was not driving and ordered a drink.
At 12.47am, Martin walked towards the car but was prevented from getting in the driver's seat and told to get in the back. Mia drove the car away but after stopping for fuel, Martin took over driving after becoming "fussy" over the fact Mia was driving.
The two other girls said Martin was driving too fast. None of them were wearing seatbelts and one of the girls told the others to put them on due to the manner of Martin's driving.
Mia and one of the other girls shouted at Martin to slow down but she ignored those requests and instead increased her speed, seeming to become angry at being told to slow down. One of the girls said she appeared to have the attitude that she could "prove she could drive like this" and "like she didn't care," "like she was invincible, like she can do what she wants and no one else is stopping her'.
As she headed west on the A1231 between the Spire Bridge and the Queen Alexander Bridge, she lost control of the car. She failed to negotiate a sweeping left-hand bend, the car understeering and crossing onto the wrong side of the road and smashing into a crash barrier, rebounding and ending up 180 metres down the road.
Mia died as a result of a significant head injured caused when the car hit the barrier. CCTV showed the Astra was doing between 64 and 67mph when 500 metres from the collision and between 75mph and 80mph as it left the west-bound carriageway and crossed the central reservation.
Investigations showed the crash was caused by the excessive speed the car was being driven at by Martin while under the influence of alcohol. After her arrest, she claimed an "old man" had spiked her drink but a trawl of CCTV at the bars where she had been proved this to be a lie.
Martin pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for eight years, of which she must serve two-thirds in custody. She will be banned from driving for five years after she is released from prison.
Judge Christopher Prince said Martin had told the author of a pre-sentence report the other girls got into the car knowing she had been drinking. He added: "They didn't know you were going to drive in the manner you did. They expected you to take care of them."
Matthew Bean, defending, said: "Yasmin Martin accepts full responsibility for what happened that day. Mia Marsh was, at the time, her closest friend and she will have to live with the fact she caused her death.
"There is genuine remorse for what she has done. She regrets her decision and will have to live with her decision for the rest of her life and the fact she has caused suffering and pain to Mia's family."
Mr Bean said Martin had an 11-month-old daughter, for whom she had been to sole carer and who would now be cared for by her grandmother while Martin was in prison. He added: "She wishes she could turn back the clock and make good the wrong she caused."