First picture of new driver who inhaled laughing gas before killing friend in horror smash

This is the first picture of a new driver who inhaled laughing gas and smoked cannabis before killing his friend in a horror crash. Connor Jones was behind the wheel of a Ford Focus when he lost control and hurtled into an oncoming car.

The 21-year-old - who had only held a licence for four months - was speeding at almost twice the limit just moments before the impact. Both vehicles were flung into the air before plummeting to the ground.

Jones and his three passengers were not wearing seatbelts during the head-on collision. Witnesses shocked by the noise of the smash rushed outside, finding a 'catastrophic' crash scene and canisters of nitrous oxide rolling down the street.

READ MORE: Cocaine-fuelled Peugeot driver killed biker and hurt passenger in horror smash

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Friend Kane Foster, 18, suffered a fatal head injury and chest fractures, with his life support machine switched off the day after the crash. Jones' late-night smash was the culmination of 21 miles of dangerous driving, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

Following the impact, Jones scrambled out of his car and popped his head into the Peugeot he had hurtled into. He was heard saying "oh my God, oh ****".

He then tried to find his missing shoe before running from the scene to 'avoid testing'. The killer driver went into hiding before emerging at a hospital two days later where he was arrested.

The court yesterday (Tuesday, May 7) heard how the collision took place on June 16 last year. Jones drove his 2004 plate vehicle to Abraham Darby - a Wetherspoon pub near Merry Hill shopping centre - where he met two females.

He smoked a cannabis cigarette, which he shared with 'good friend' Mr Foster who had already been in the car with him. All four headed to Gornal, with Mr Foster at the back of the car, one female sitting next to him and a second in the front of the vehicle.

The female rear-seat passenger became concerned about Jones' driving she repeatedly asked him to slow down but he ignored her pleas. The group arrived at a pub in Gornal but were turned away because they 'smelt of cannabis', prosecutor Antonie Muller said.

Jones bought a bottle of vodka from a corner shop, with all four swigging it with lemonade. He then returned to The Waterfront near Merry Hill, with Mr Foster buying three canisters of then-legal nitrous oxide.

Jones next drove back to Gornal, inhaling the nitrous oxide after filling a balloon with the laughing gas as he played loud music from his phone. He turned into 'narrow and bendy' Coopers Bank Road, in Lower Gornal, but was driving 'far too fast' in the 30mph zone.

Witnesses reported how Jones stopped 'abruptly' without indicating before accelerating and brushing a hedge on the offside of the road. He then 'tried to correct himself' as he approached the brow of the hill on the nearside of the road before 'overcorrecting at speed' and hitting the Peugeot head-on at about 11pm.

Emergency services rushed to the scene, with firefighters cutting the injured victims from the vehicles. One female from Jones' car and the driver of the Peugeot both suffered multiple injuries.

Jones admitted causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He was jailed for 12 years and must serve at least two-thirds of his sentence before he can be considered for release by the Parole Board.

The defendant - of Kennedy Crescent, Lower Gornal - was also handed a 13-year driving ban. Read the full story here from court.