Car crash victims' families release accident footage to warn others
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Version 0 of 1. Harrowing footage showing the minutes before two young men were killed in a 90mph car crash on a country lane has been released by their families in the hope it will be a warning to others. Driver Kyle Careford, 20, and his friend Michael Owen, 21, were three times the speed limit when their red Renault Clio smashed into a churchyard in Crowborough, East Sussex. Owen, a father of one, is heard laughing as he films his friend on his mobile phone while they zoom along the narrow B2100, both high on drugs, with Owen appearing to be giving his friend instructions on how to drive. The pair, both from Royal Tunbridge Wells, were killed instantly when they broke through the wall of St Michael and All Angels church. The footage was found by police after the mobile phone was retrieved from the scene. The families of 2 men who died in #Crowborough hope releasing this video of their final moments could save lives https://t.co/CJSrevo9EF The inquest in Hastings last week heard how the friends had taken both prescribed and illegal drugs. Careford did not have a driving licence and was not insured to drive the car, which belonged to Owen. After the inquest, which recorded a verdict of death by road traffic collision, Owen’s mother, Kat, said the men were the only ones to blame for their deaths. “We bring our children up teaching them right from wrong,” she said. “We guide them and give them our advice and hope they listen, but once they are adults we hope they make the right choices. I really don’t know why the boys chose to do what they did, but I blame them both for the decisions they made on this night.” She said she hoped the release of the video “stops one person from making the same mistake … and make them see that a bit of fun can have such devastating consequences”. Young people should “take notice and realise that you are not invincible and take seriously how precious your lives are to yourselves and others … consider how much devastation it causes to the families and loved ones that are left behind”, she added. Careford’s brother, Zac Hemming, said releasing the film had been a very difficult decision, adding: “However, despite the pain of it being broadcast by the media, we as a family just hope and pray that this will connect with at least one person out there, young or old, so that no one ever has to experience the unthinkable pain of losing someone so close and dearly loved.” Ch Insp Phil Nicholas, from the Surrey and Sussex road policing unit, said any lives saved due to the video’s release would be “a valuable legacy of Michael and Kyle’s sad deaths”. Owen’s ex-girlfriend Lauren Humble, the mother of his five-year-old daughter Lily-Rose, called the video “heartbreaking to watch”. She said: “I know plenty of people who drive fast and I hope that this video will show people that driving like this can have devastating consequences and how short life can really be. “The Michael we saw on that video was not the Michael that we knew, who was a loving, caring, responsible daddy. The legacy that Michael has left is our beautiful daughter … she will have to live with the impact of this horrific situation forever.” |