Teenager jailed over crash that killed boy, 13

A teenager who caused a crash that killed a "vulnerable" 13-year-old boy has been sentenced to two years in custody.

The 16-year-old, who was 15 at the time and cannot be named due to his age, was driving a car with five other teenagers when it hit a grass verge and crashed on the A672 near Rishworth, in Calderdale, in the early hours of 4 February 2025.

Passenger Harrison Reynolds, from Halifax, was thrown from the car and later died in hospital as a result of "catastrophic" head injuries on 17 February.

The 16-year-old, who admitted causing death by dangerous driving and aggravated vehicle taking, was detained for two years at a sentencing at Bradford Crown Court.

He was told he would spend a further two years on licence after his release, and has also been disqualified from driving for seven years.

The court heard the car had been taken from the mother of one of the passengers while she was sleeping, and was being driven at speed and without the headlights on.

Prosecutors said a police car had followed the vehicle but the 16-year-old had refused to stop. However, the court was told the pursuit had not impacted the crash.

The four other passengers, two of which fled the scene, each admitted aggravated vehicle taking and death caused by an accident at Bradford Youth Court last month.

The two boys and two girls, aged between 15 and 17, were given 12-month intensive referral orders and were disqualified from driving for four years.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Harrison's mother said her son had been diagnosed with additional needs, which made him "vulnerable" and "more trusting of others".

She said Harrison's death had left her suffering from mental health issues including PTSD and that having to make the decision to take him off life was support was "every mother's worst nightmare".

"I feel as though I'm living in a daily nightmare that will never end," she told the court.

"Every day I see other people with teenage children and think how lucky they are."

Harrison's sister, in her statement, told the court she had been unable to sit her GCSEs or return to college due to the grief she was suffering.

Jayne Beckett, defending, told the court her client had been "effectively abandoned by his mother" at the age of 13 and his development had been significantly impaired.

The court heard a psychiatric evaluation found he had the maturity level of an 11-year-old.

"There is no world in which he went out intending to kill anybody," Beckett said.

"What he did, however, was so very, very criminal and wrong that he will have to answer for that."

Addressing the teenager Judge Sophie McKone said: "The sentence I pass is in no way to put a value on Harrison's life."

"Nothing I say relieves the pain and grief of this family."

Det Con Adele Murphy-Hartley, from West Yorkshire Police, said: "By travelling in that vehicle on that night, these five teenagers made a dreadful mistake that will live with them for the rest of their lives.

"It is a painful example of the real dangers posed by driving a vehicle when unqualified and inexperienced to do so."

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