Student killed by drink-driving friend 'was the best'

The death of a student who was killed when his friend crashed his car after drinking six pints in a pub was "the result of one person's reckless and dangerous behaviour", his parents have said.

Matthew Bennett, 23 and from Liverpool, lost control of his Audi A1 on a bend on Cobbs Brow Lane in Newburgh, Lancashire, in April 2023.

Passenger Chris Tromp, 20 and of Wigan, suffered "catastrophic injuries" and died at the scene after the car left the unlit country road and crashed into trees.

At the sentencing hearing where Bennett was jailed for nine years for causing death by dangerous driving, Chris's family shared victim impact statements in which they paid tribute to him.

His mother Julie and father Ged said: "When Chris was killed, our family didn't shatter or break apart - we pulled together and remain close, supporting each other.

"Our lives were shattered of course, but we have tried our utmost to maintain our own dignity and values and honour Chris's memory in the very best way we can.

"It is not possible to measure the impact of losing him and continuing without him is incredibly painful.

"A day doesn't go by where we don't think about him and realise we miss him so much.

"We simply don't have him around as he should be, and as we expected he always would be.

"We set the dinner table for four, not five. We talk about him, not to him.

"We have lots of photos but there will be no more, and we have to rely on our memories without the opportunity of making new ones.

"It is almost three years since Chris was killed, and we have had all that time to try and rebuild some kind of life around our grief.

"However, we have also lived with the knowledge that the person responsible has never acknowledged this or shown any remorse for his actions."

Speaking about the trial they said: "The four of us sat here day after day, holding on to each other, watching the video of Chris getting in that car just willing him to turn around and walk home and come back to us.

"All the while, of course, knowing he didn't and he isn't.

"Nothing is bringing Chris back to us - we know that - but losing him wasn't simply the result of a tragic accident. It was avoidable, the result of one person's reckless and dangerous behaviour.

"Matthew's lack of understanding, compassion and inability to accept responsibility for his actions have added massively to our distress and grief.

"It has taken a jury to make him accept what he has done and that, to us, is something incomprehensible."

Chris's elder brother Anthony told the court: "When I think of Chris, I still see the little boy I helped take his first steps.

"I remember holding his hands as he wobbled forward, and the way he would put on dance shows after family tea, making us all laugh and clap along.

"He was always the small, cheeky boy with the biggest smile.

"Chris was never nasty - he was the complete opposite.

"You would never meet a kinder, more empathetic lad.

"He was the best of us three brothers. He would help anyone, even someone who had treated him badly.

"That was who he was, and I believe that same kindness, that inability to say 'No' for fear of hurting someone's feelings, is what led him to get in the car with the boy who killed him."

Chris's other brother, Jonathan, said: "Since Chris died, me and my family - as well as all the people who knew and loved Chris - have pulled together to help each other.

"It is testament to Chris that such a loving and caring community has been left in his wake. He lived life to the fullest and with the most kindness and compassion a person can possess.

"We all remember Chris for the special character he was, and we all experience the pain of his absence together as a team.

"My own life has been changed immeasurably by losing Chris. Learning how to live without him is a constant process and will continue to prove challenging for many years to come.

"Every significant experience I have had since Chris died exposed the tragic knowledge that I cannot share it with him.

"Wanting to tell him about anything and everything I achieve, and that I will never be able to do that, presents the most overwhelming psychological burden that I can't put into words."

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