A 19-year-old who allegedly drove at more than 160 km/h with his faculties “severely impaired” by the consumption of laughing gas, which he inhaled using a balloon without even taking his hands off the wheel, was sentenced to nine years in prison after killing his three friends.
“Your three passengers will never live beyond their adolescence, and you leave yours with a significant and permanent disability,” Judge Emma Nott said in handing down her sentence Wednesday at the Oxford court in England, according to The Guardian.
‘Disfigured’ Thomas Johnson headed to prison for the next nine years after pleading guilty to causing the deaths of his three friends, Elliot Pullen, 17, Ethan Goddard, 18, and Daniel Hancock, 18 years old, by dangerous driving in July last year.
That day, the young driver lost control of his vehicle while traveling at more than 160 km/h in a zone of almost 50 km/h. He had consumed nitrous oxide, better known as “laughing gas”, while having both hands on the wheel.
In a video taken shortly before the accident, we can see him laughing while sucking air from a balloon inflated using a canister of this gas which causes a euphoric effect in those who consume it.
Except that nitrous oxide can also cause hallucinations or even “disorientation” and “general impairment”, prosecutor Neil Moore raised in court, according to the British media.
His three friends lost their lives in the accident, while Thomas Johnson suffered head trauma, a collapsed lung, cracked ribs and permanent loss of sight in one eye, in addition to having suffered a amnesia and “moderately severe” depression after a period in a coma.
At the time of losing control of his BMW 3 Series, the young man’s faculties were “strongly impaired by drug consumption”, continued the magistrate, noting that he will be “defined forever [par ses] adolescent mistakes”, according to The Guardian.
“Thomas Johnson’s disregard for the safety of others that night was clear. His dangerous driving had devastating consequences […] It is a responsibility that he must think about while he serves his sentence in prison,” Bill Khindey, of the Crown Prosecution Service, told the British media.
Relatives of the three victims took turns speaking to pay tribute to them on Wednesday.
“Daniel died at [5 km] from his home in a completely avoidable accident. Please don’t be that driver who shows such disregard for the lives of his friends. [Et] do not put yourself in the position of being the passenger of such a driver,” implored the family of Daniel Hancock in a press release.
