Five years for driver Daniel Hume who killed friend
Sep 1 2010 The Journal
A ROOKIE driver over the drink limit and showing off when he killed his friend in a Northumberland crash is today beginning a five-year sentence behind bars.
Daniel Hume repeatedly broke down and sobbed in the dock as Newcastle Crown Court heard details of the high-speed smash which cost popular 19-year-old Liam Hawley his life.
Hume – who had downed vodka, lager, and cheap promotion priced bottled lager – ignored his passengers’ pleas to slow down as he zig-zagged a Renault Megane wildly across a country road, playing ‘chicken’ with the kerbs.
The Megane he was driving for the first time eventually struck a verge, spun out of control and ploughed sideways into a large tree at Whorral Bank, Morpeth.
Liam died from a massive head injury, the court heard.
“Children should bury their parents not parents their children,” Judge Guy Whitburn said. “Anyone who has read the victim impact statements of the parents of your friend could not be other than deeply moved by their sense of devastation and loss.
“In the early hours of that morning, having consumed drink and being an inexperienced driver, you were showing off. You zig-zagged up that road playing chicken with the kerbs until your luck and Liam’s luck ran out.
“You have to live with this for the rest of your life.
“Equally Liam’s parents have to live with it for the rest of their lives. You have devastated not only them but your own close-knit family who hold you in high regard.”
Hume, of Norham Drive, Morpeth, was sent to a young offender institution, banned from driving for 10 years and told he must take an extended test before he can ever get back behind the wheel.
