Driver filmed boyfriend on her phone before crash

A teenage driver who filmed her boyfriend hanging out the passenger window of her car before crashing off the road has been jailed for three years.

Alfie Lovett, 17, died when Mia Howarth, then 18, crashed near Brimham Rocks in North Yorkshire, on 12 September 2023.

York Crown Court heard Howarth, now 21, had been driving at 35mph (56km/h) while on her phone, causing her Peugeot 107 to veer off the road and crash into a wall.

Howarth, of Cooperative Street in Horbury, was jailed after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

Lovett, from York, suffered fatal chest injuries in the crash, despite witnesses stopping to give him CPR.

After the incident, Howarth said to officers, "I killed him, it was my fault" but said she had "ranted about seatbelts" every five minutes to her passengers.

A search of her phone revealed she had used Snapchat to take footage of Lovett hanging from the window with his feet on the passenger seat, while she was clearly still driving.

In a victim impact statement, Lovett's parents said he had left behind a 12-week-old son, who they helped to take care of.

He was described as "unique, funny and caring" with ambitions of playing in a band.

"Special occasions will forever be tinged with sadness," his mum added.

Howarth was acknowledged by Lovett's dad to be a "good influence" in his son's life, saying she could have been in their lives for a very long time.

The court heard the defendant, who was then 18, and the victim had planned the trip to Brimham Rocks with two friends.

Before the journey, Howarth's dad had warned her about the behaviour of boys in the car, instructing her to pull over if they tried to hang out of the car.

She had passed her test the previous year but had only bought the vehicle a month before the crash.

Glen Parsons, defending, said: "She has killed her partner and knows more than anyone what that has done to the family.

"Her sentence started three years ago and she has been living it every day since."

He added the defendant had received threats from friends and had left the area and her job in the care sector.

"Her future now lies in tatters," he added.

Sentencing Howarth, Judge Sean Morris said: "Boys were doing what stupid young boys do.

"But you didn't stop, you carried on driving, you were using your mobile and you were filming.

"Young people need to learn, stay off the mobile when driving.

"Nothing I can do will ever mend the broken hearts in this case, no sentence will bring him back."

Taking into account Howarth's age at the time, good character and time passed since the incident, Judge Morris sentenced her to three years in prison and banned her from driving for a total of six years and six months.

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