Teen drunk driver killed best friend after 'getting angry when asked to slow down'

Yasmin Martin was just 17 at the time of the crash and was almost double the drink drive limit. She was driving at twice the speed limit when her best friend died

A teenager killed her closest friend while driving at more than twice the speed limit after responding to her pal's begging her to slow down by speeding up.

Yasmin Martin was just 17 at the time of the crash and was almost double the drink drive limit. She had never driven the car until that day but decided to drive three friends home from a night out. The pleas for her to slow down from Mia Marsh, who she had known since they were young, and another girl, appeared to make her angry and she instead put her foot down, a court heard.

One of the girls said she seemed to want to prove she could drive dangerously. They told the court it was "like she was invincible, like she can do what she wants and no one else is stopping her". Martin lost control on a bend at more than 70mph in a 30mph zone, smashing into a crash barrier and killing 17-year-old Mia.

As Martin, now 19, of Aldwych Road, Sunderland, was jailed for eight years, Mia's family attended Newcastle Crown Court wearing T-shirts showing a picture of the tragic teen. Her mum, Danielle, did not feel able to attend the hearing but a victim impact statement from her was read to the court outlining her devastating loss.

She said she feels "stuck in a nightmare I can't wake up from", adding: "The pain we, as a family, are going through is unimaginable." She said they sometimes imagine Mia is just out "but then reality kicks in at a million miles an hour". Danielle said: "We want her here and now. We don't want her as a memory. We still think one day she will come bouncing back through the door singing and being cheerful like she was." She added: "Due to her injuries no one was allowed to identify her and she had to have a closed coffin. This made me doubt if it was really Mia and if it was a horrible mistake"

Martin, who had passed her driving test in May 2022, was driving a Vauxhall Astra which her dad had hired that day. She had no experience of driving it before that evening, Friday December 2 2022, and was not insured to do so. Martin, who regarded Mia, who she had known since nursery, as her closest friend, picked up her and two other friends and they went drinking in six bars in Sunderland, where they all consumed pints of Strongbow dark fruits, Jagerbombs and vodka Red Bulls, Chronicle Live reports.

At 12.47am, Martin walked towards the car but was prevented from getting in the driver's seat and told to get in the back. Mia drove the car away. After stopping for fuel, Martin took over driving after becoming "fussy" over the fact Mia was driving. The two other girls said Martin was driving too fast.

Mia and one of the other girls shouted at Martin to slow down but she ignored those requests and instead increased her speed, seeming to become angry at being told to slow down. One of the girls said she accelerated and appeared to have the attitude that she could "prove she could drive like this" and "like she didn't care," "like she was invincible, like she can do what she wants and no one else is stopping her'.

She failed to negotiate a sweeping left hand bend, the car understeering and crossing onto the wrong side of the road and smashing into a crash barrier, rebounding and ending up 180 metres down the road. CCTV showed the Astra was doing between 64 and 67mph when 500 metres from the collision and between 75mph and 80mph as it left the west-bound carriageway and crossed the central reservation. The speed limit was 30mph.

Martin pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for eight year. She will be banned from driving for five years after she is released from prison. Matthew Bean, defending, said: "Yasmin Martin accepts full responsibility for what happened that day. Mia Marsh was, at the time, her closest friend and she will have to live with the fact she caused her death.

"There is genuine remorse for what she has done. She regrets her decision and will have to live with her decision for the rest of her life and the fact she has caused suffering and pain to Mia's family."

Mr Bean said Martin has an 11-month-old daughter, for whom she has been to sole carer and who will now be cared for by her grandmother while Martin is in prison. He added: "She wishes she could turn back the clock and make good the wrong she caused."