by A young drink driver killed her best friend after speeding when he was accused of slowing down. Yasmin Martin was traveling more than twice the speed limit and was nearly twice the drink-drive limit at the time of the horrific crash.
The 19-year-old, who was 17 at the time, had arranged to drive three friends home from a night out in a car she had never driven before that day. A court heard how Martin reacted angrily when Mia Marsh and another girl begged her to slow down.
She lost control on a bend while traveling in excess of 70mph in a 30mph zone. Martin crashed the car into a barrier and killed 17-year-old Mia, Chronicle Live reports.
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Martin had known Mia since they were both young, Newcastle Crown Court heard. One of the passengers said that Martin seemed to be trying to prove that she could drive dangerously and that it was ‘because she was incredible, she can do what she wants and no one else is doing stop her’.
As Martin, of Aldwych Road, Sunderland, was jailed for eight years, Mia’s family attended Newcastle Crown Court wearing t-shirts displaying a picture of the tragic teenager. Her mother, Danielle, did not feel able to attend the hearing but a victim impact statement from her was read to the court describing her devastating loss.
She said she feels ‘stuck in a nightmare I can’t get out of’, adding: “The pain we as a family are going through is unimaginable.” She said that sometimes they imagine that Mia is just out ‘but then reality starts going a million miles an hour’.
Danielle said: “We want her here and now. We don’t want her as a memory. We still think one day she’ll come bouncing back through the door singing and being happy like she was.
“We miss Mia so much, our hearts are broken forever. Mia was only 17 when she was tragically taken from us. She had her whole life to look forward to. It happens to you.”
She said: “Due to her injuries no one was allowed to identify her and she had to have a closed coffin. This made me wonder if it was really Mia and if it was a terrible mistake… We will love Mia unconditionally until we meet again baby girl.
Martin, who passed her driving test in May 2022, was driving a Vauxhall Astra hired by her father that day. She had no experience of driving it before that evening, Friday 2 December 2022, and had no insurance to do so.
Martin, who admired Mia, who had known her since nursery, as her best friend at the time, picked her and two other friends up and they went drinking in six bars in Sunderland, where They all ate pints of dark fruit Strongbow, Jagerbombs and vodka and Red Bulls.
An employee at one of the bars, when Martin told him her car was parked nearby, said ‘well I hope you’re not driving’ as it was clear she couldn’t drive due to her drunkenness . She said she wasn’t driving and ordered a drink.
At 12.47am, Martin walked towards the car but was prevented from getting into the driver’s seat and told to get into the back. Mia drove the car away. After stopping for fuel, Martin took charge of the drive after becoming ‘fussy’ about the fact that Mia was driving.
The other two girls said Martin was driving too fast. None of them were wearing seat belts and one of the girls told the other girls to put them on because of the way Martin was driving.
Mia and one of the other girls called out to Martin to slow down but she ignored their pleas and instead increased her speed, looking angry at being told to slow down. One of the girls said she stepped up and seemed to have the attitude that she could ‘prove she could drive like this’ and ‘she didn’t care’, ‘because she was incredible, she can do what she wants to do and no one. another is stopping her’.
The collision happened as she was heading west on the A1231 between Spire Bridge and Queen Alexander Bridge. She failed to take a sweeping left corner, the car going under and crossing onto the wrong side of the road and smashing into a crash barrier, reversing and ending up 180 meters down the road.
Mia’s family asked for CCTV of the collision to be played in court, which it was. A picture of the car’s condition was also shown afterwards. Mia died as a result of a significant head injury caused when the car hit the crash barrier.
CCTV showed the Astra doing between 64 and 67mph when it was 500 meters from the collision and between 75mph and 80mph when it left the carriageway and crossed the central reservation. The speed limit was 30mph.
Investigations revealed that the excessive speed Martin was driving the car while under the influence of alcohol was the cause of the accident. She was nearly twice the drink-drive limit.
After her arrest, she claimed that an ‘old man’ had spilled her drink but CCTV footage at the bars proved that to be a lie. Martin pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for eight years, two-thirds of which she must serve in custody. She will be banned from driving for five years after her release from prison.
Judge Christopher Prince said Martin told the author of a pre-sentence report about the other girls who got into the car knowing she had been drinking. But he said: “They didn’t know you were driving the way you did. They expected you to take care of them.”
Matthew Bean, defending, said: “Yasmin Martin takes full responsibility for what happened that day. Mia Marsh was, at the time, her closest friend and she will have to live with the fact that she caused her death.
“She truly regrets what she has done. She regrets the decision and will have to live with her decision for the rest of her life and the fact that she has caused suffering and pain to Mia’s family.”
Mr Bean said that Martin has an 11-month-old daughter, for whom she was the sole carer and who will now be cared for by her grandmother while Martin is in prison. He added: “She wishes she could turn back the clock and undo what she did wrong.”
