Newly-qualified teen driver who killed three fellow pupils in crash given two years' detention
28 April 2025, 13:24 | Updated: 28 April 2025, 18:19
A teenager who killed three fellow pupils in a car crash has been sentenced to two years’ detention.
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Edward Spencer, 19, was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court for killing passengers, Matilda "Tilly" Seccombe, 16, Frank Wormald, 16, and Harry Purcell, 17, while driving home from school five weeks after passing his test.
He was travelling at around 64mph when he hit an oncoming Fiat 500.
Two children aged 10 and 12 and their stepmother inside suffered "life-changing" injuries.
The court heard Spencer had a “history of bad driving” including showing off, evidenced by social media posts and videos.
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Spencer, who was aged 17 when he caused the deaths of his passengers, stared towards Judge Andrew Lockhart KC but showed no obvious emotion as he was sentenced.
Now 19, Spencer was banned from driving for eight years and ordered to take an extended re-test after admitting three counts of causing death and three of causing serious injury, all by careless driving.
He was en route home from Chipping Campden School in Gloucestershire in April 2023 with three fellow pupils as front and rear seat passengers when his Ford Fiesta crashed into an oncoming car near Shipston-on-Stour.
The court heard Spencer, of Armscote Road, Newbold-on-Stour, Warwickshire, only passed his driving test weeks earlier but had a "history of bad driving" including showing off, evidenced by social media posts and videos.
He changed his pleas to guilty in March having previously denied wrongdoing, was criticised by relatives of the injured children and two of those killed for an apparent lack of remorse - having been seen smirking during a previous hearing.
Passing sentence, Judge Andrew Lockhart KC told Spencer his previous and "habitual" poor driving mean that there was a "terrible inevitability" about the "catastrophic" crash.
The judge said of social media evidence, including video of Spencer passing a mobility scooter at more than 50mph in the weeks prior to the crash: "It is disturbing material and it seriously aggravates the position you find yourself in.
"This is material that is indisputable, largely captured on video. There is here clear and crystal clear evidence of previous poor driving."
The crash was caused by a "lethal combination" of grossly excessive speed and a failure to drive to the road conditions, the judge said.
