A TEENAGE drunk driver has been jailed for eight years after she ignored her friend’s desperate pleas to slow down and killed her in a horror crash.
Yasmin Martin, who was 17 at the time, got behind the wheel of a hired Vauxhall Astra after a Friday night out at six pubs with pals in Sunderland in December 2022.
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She was almost twice the drink-drive limit and driving at up to 80mph on a 30mph road when she crashed, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Her “closest friend” and backseat passenger Mia Marsh, who was just 17, died in the vehicle from a head injury when Martin lost control and hit a crash barrier.
One witness said Martin, who was four days away from her 18th birthday, had been driving “like she didn’t care, like she was invincible” before she lost control and would increase her speed and become “angry” when being asked to slow down.
Martin initially lied to police that someone spiked her drink but CCTV footage proved her claim false.
The now 19-year-old mum, of Aldwych Road, Sunderland, who has never been in trouble before, later admitted causing death by dangerous driving.
Meanwhile, Mia’s heartbroken mum Danielle McQuade said in an impact statement that she is now “stuck in a nightmare I cannot wake up from” and added: “No matter how hard I scream or how hard I cry in bed, I cannot wake up from it.
“The pain we are going through it unimaginable. I have to see her friends having families, going on holidays and enjoying life, something she won’t get a chance to do.
“We miss her in an unbelievable way, our hearts are forever broken.”
Ms McQuade added: “Yasmin has been lucky enough to have her 18th birthday, living her life as if she’s done nothing wrong, enjoying holidays and posting about life on social media.
“This has shocked me and been really upsetting while Mia has been robbed of any future to enjoy special birthdays or a career and have a family of her own.
“Mia loved life and was full of life.”
Prosecutor Kevin Wardlaw told the court Martin had no experience of driving the Astra vehicle until that evening and was not insured to drive it, when she and her friends, including Mia, visited six licenced premises.
Mr Wardlaw said: “The group all drank pints of Strongbow dark fruits cider, Jager bombs and Vodka Red Bull.”
The court heard when the group reached the last bar Martin saw an ex partner, which made her “irate”.
She then told a worker she had a car parked nearby and he responded by saying he hoped she was not driving it.
The court heard Martin was served with a vodka and Red Bull when she said she was not driving.
Mia initially began driving the car home at 1am after the bar manager stopped Martin from getting behind the wheel due to her drunken state.
But after they stopped for petrol and Martin became “fussy” about someone else driving, she took over.
Mr Wardlaw said the passengers described Martin’s driving as “too fast” and one of them told the others to get their seatbelts on as a result.
He added: “One confirmed she heard the others shouting, telling her to slow down. However, she ignored their requests and increased the speed.”
The court heard Martin appeared to become “more angry” when she was told to slow before losing control of the car.
‘APPALLING LOSS OF LIFE’
Judge Christopher Prince disqualified her from driving for 124 months and said she must pass an extended test before she can be behind the wheel again.
Judge Prince said the passengers knew Martin had been drinking but added: “They didn’t know you were going to drive in the manner that you did.
“They got into that car expecting you would take care of them.”
Judge Prince added: “There is nothing this court can say and no sentence a court can impose that can, even to the smallest extent and is not intended to, reflect the terrible and appalling loss of life occasioned by your offending.
“Mia Marsh was a 17-year-old teenager, her whole life ahead of her.”
Judge Prince said Martin was immature at the time, has never been in trouble before and had a difficult childhood.
Matthew Bean, defending, said Martin, who no longer drinks, accepts full responsibility for what happened and added: “Mia Marsh was at the time her closest friend and she will have to live with the fact she caused her death.
Mr Bean said Martin “wishes that she could turn back the clock”.