The families of two young men who crashed into a church yard wall at 90mph have released footage of the pair's final moments, in the hope it will dissuade others from driving dangerously.
Driver Kyle Careford, 20, and his friend Michael Owen, 21, were both killed in the impact. Owen filmed the moments before the crash on his mobile phone. Both were high on prescription and illegal drugs.
Careford and Owen, both from Tunbridge Wells, were driving along the narrow B2100 at three times the speed limit when they hit the wall of St Michael and All Angels church.
In an inquest last week it was revealed that Careford did not have a licence and was not insured to drive the vehicle, which belonged to Owen.
At the inquest Owen’s mother, Kat, said: “We bring our children up teaching them right from wrong,” she said. “We guide them and give them our advice and hope they listen, but once they are adults we hope they make the right choices. I really don’t know why the boys chose to do what they did, but I blame them both for the decisions they made on this night.”
Kat hoped the release of the footage “stops one person from making the same mistake … and make them see that a bit of fun can have such devastating consequences”.
Zac Hemming, Careford’s brother, said the decision to release the footage had been very difficult, adding: “However, despite the pain of it being broadcast by the media, we as a family just hope and pray that this will connect with at least one person out there, young or old, so that no one ever has to experience the unthinkable pain of losing someone so close and dearly loved.”
Ch. Insp Phil Nicholas, from the Surrey and Sussex road policing unit, said the footage would be “a valuable legacy of Michael and Kyle’s sad deaths” if it saved lives.
The video, which some may find distressing, can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmasEB6aFF0.
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