A TEENAGER who killed her best friend when she drove “unacceptably fast” approaching a blind bend and collided with a tree has been put behind bars for six months.
Naomi Jones, 19, admitted causing the death of Elysia Ashworth, 17, by careless driving on the first day of her trial last month in which she was cleared of dangerous driving.
Sentencing her at Preston Crown Court, Judge Christopher Cornwall said that verdict should not be called into question, but in his judgment it was not far short of dangerous driving.
The pair were close friends from the age of 13, regularly had sleep-overs at each other’s houses and the defendant had gone on holiday to Cyprus with Miss Ashworth’s family three years ago.
Both families were torn apart when Jones lost control of her Vauxhall Corsa on the narrow, uneven road, which left rear seat passenger Miss Ashworth with multiple injuries.
Miss Ashworth, from Ulverston Crescent, St Annes, died two days after the crash, which happened near Blackpool Airport on July 11 last year.
Jones said she failed to negotiate the left-hand bend in Division Lane after she hit two bumps in the de-restricted road in quick succession.
Jones, of Carr Drive, Wesham, will spend her sentence in a young offenders institute.
She was also banned from driving for 12 months and ordered to take an extended re-test.
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