Drink-driver who killed friend is jailed

A drink-driver who killed his friend when he crashed a car after five hours of drinking has been jailed for almost 12 years.

Matthew Newton, from Carlisle, died when the car he was a passenger in hit the barrier on the A69 near Throckley, Newcastle.

CCTV footage showed the driver, Ross Neville, drinking pints of beer and shots at a city centre bar before he crashed and fled the scene.

Neville, 35, of Canonbie in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, pleaded guilty to death by dangerous driving and causing death while driving without insurance in January and was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on Wednesday.

In a statement read out at the hearing, Newton's mum Anna said her son was "loved by everyone, had the brightest smile and lit up every room".

"At 28 years old he should have had his whole future ahead of him," she said.

"Now, all I'm left with is an empty chair."

Neville was handed a prison sentence of 11 years and 11 months and was banned from driving for seven years after his release.

Footage from the night of the crash showed Neville's car reached 108mph (174kph) just before the crash.

Emergency services were called to the scene after a HGV driver came across the grey Ford Raptor badly damaged on the road.

Sgt Greg Huntley, from Northumbria Police, said Neville ran from the scene so he could hide how much he had drunk.

"Worse still, he has then went on to tell the HGV driver who came across the crash that his friend was fine, before shamelessly fleeing the scene," he said.

"It is clear to me that Neville was not a good friend – and he only had himself in mind that evening as he left Matthew with unsurvivable injuries in his car."

Huntley said he hoped Newton's family could find some comfort in knowing Neville would spend a "lengthy spell in prison".

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