Young driver locked up after causing fatal crash

A young motorist who caused a fatal crash in which his teenage passenger was killed, was today locked up by a judge.

Aaron Hall was speeding in his Mercedes Benz when he lost control as he entered a blind bend.

His vehicle left the road near to the village of Stainton le Vale and ended up in a field where it collided with a tree causing it to flip onto its roof.

Hall and one of his passengers escaped with minor injuries, but 17-year-old Jack McLoughlin, who was sitting in the rear of the car with his seat belt on, suffered fatal head injuries.

At the time Hall was driving in convoy with another driver on their way to Laceby where they planned to buy pizza.

Lincoln Crown Court was told that Jack, from Healing, was originally in the second vehicle following Hall but then swapped over. He had never previously met Hall.

Jack McLoughlin with his mum.

Aaron Hall, 20, of Church Street, Nettleton, near Grimsby, admitted a charge of causing death by careless driving as a result of the incident on June 3, 2020.

He was sent to a young offenders’ institution for nine months and disqualified from driving for two years.

Recorder Michael Auty QC told Hall: “You are in so many ways an honest, decent, industrious, hard-working man who is a credit to himself and his family but on this occasion, you did something truly dreadful and I cannot lose sight of that.

“That night you were in charge of a lethal weapon and the people that were inside your motor car were people to whom you owed a duty of care. They had no control over how you drove and literally you held their lives in your hand.

“This had been building up. You must have known you were starting to drive faster and faster.

“This road was unknown to you and that required more care than usual. What you did was take a risk that you had no business taking.”

Lucky Thandi, prosecuting, said the youngsters met up in Healing and drove in two cars first to Irby and then to Binbrook before heading towards Laceby.

“As he travelled along the road in Stainton le Vale a collision occurred. The Mercedes entered a blind bend resulting in it leaving the road, crossing the verge, crossing another road and colliding with a large tree causing the vehicle to flip onto its roof.”

Hall and his front seat passenger were able to get out of the vehicle and Hall then pulled Jack out before giving him CPR. Local residents, alerted by the sound of the collision, also helped, but Jack was pronounced dead at the scene.

Evidence recovered from a data recorder fitted to the Mercedes showed Hall was driving at between 64 and 69 mph on the minor road which had a 60 mph limit. He approached the blind bend at 64 mph. Police investigations revealed the maximum speed to safely take the bend was 43 mph.

An accident investigator concluded that the collision was caused by the manner of Hall’s driving.

Andrew Nuttall, in mitigation, said Hall had no previous convictions and until the incident had an unblemished driving licence.

Mr Nuttall said: “It is clear that the defendant is genuine in his remorse. He is struggling to deal with his guilt.

“He has always accepted that his speed was wholly inappropriate. He made a mistake by driving at that speed. There are no excuses and he lost control.”