A TEENAGE driver whose careless driving killed a friend and left another brain-damaged was this week spared jail.
Ryan Grace had been showing off at the wheel of his mum's car in Seer Green before slamming sideways into a tree after losing control on a bend, Aylesbury Crown Court heard.
The 19-year-old had told one of the passengers: "I'll show you how I drive in Norfolk," before accelerating along Longbottom Lane in the Citroen C4, the court heard.
Hussein Shamshudin, 17, died after the crash in February last year. Another passenger Rory Scarlett suffered severe head injuries and was in a coma for a month, while Elliot Cartwright was left with a badly wounded arm.
Grace, of Derehams Avenue, Loudwater, was given a 20-week suspended jail sentence at a hearing on Tuesday, as well as a two-and-a-half year driving ban and 250 hours of unpaid work.
He was described as "a broken young man" by his defence barrister, who told the judge "there can be no greater punishment than Ryan Grace carrying the death of Hussein Shamshudin with him for the rest of his life."
The court heard he had been offered the chance to join the police, but the offer was rescinded following his conviction.
Judge Francis Sheridan told him: "You were showing off....You dropped from the high standards required to pass a test and, if I may say so, from the high standards of your upbringing."
Meanwhile the judge hailed the paramedics, police officers and John Radcliffe hospital staff who cared for Rory Scarlett, as heroes.
He also praised Dr Challoner's Grammar School in Amersham, which the three male passengers attended, for their response to the incident.
After the hearing Rory Scarlett’s family said the sentence was ‘fair’ and mum Laura added: "Any parents of teenagers know these kinds of things can and do happen and it has happened to us."
But she said Rory had made "a pretty-much miraculous recovery" after being severely brain damaged.
Meanwhile, the Scarlett family have criticised the solicitors who advised Grace to answer 'no comment' in police interviews - CLICK HERE
