A man has been jailed for five years for failing to stop a fellow company director from driving his car “dangerously” - leading to the death of a young couple.

 

The passenger was in the front seat passenger of the car which was being driven when it hit surface water, skidded and ended up killing two young people.

 

The young couple were phoning for help after their Ford Fiesta had broken down in the A1's central reservation at Great Ponton, Lincolnshire, when the crash happened in May last year, killing them both.

 

The court was told how evidence from the Jaguar's on-board computer showed it had been travelling at 111mph at the moment of the collision. Both the driver and passenger were convicted on two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

 

The driver who was one and a half times over the legal alcohol limit was jailed for nine years and banned from driving for seven years, while the passenger was jailed and banned for five years. They were both also ordered to pay half the prosecution's costs of £14,000

 

Greg Dickinson QC said: "By deciding a sentence it is necessary to assess the blame-worthiness of each of you. It seems perfectly clear that the Jaguar was being driven at a grossly excessive speed."

 

Over the limit

 

On the day of the crash the Directors had been enjoying a day out at Nottingham Racecourse, where they had drunk wine. One of them decided to drive but the court heard, they were later found to be one-and-a-half times the legal alcohol limit.