Teenage drink-driver who killed her greatest pal in crash is jailed

A teenage drink driver killed her best friend at more than twice the speed limit after responding to her shouts to slow down by speeding up.

Yasmin Martin, then-17, was almost double the drink drive limit and behind the wheel of a car she was not insured on  and had never driven before when she made the fateful decision to drive three friends home from a night out on December 2, 2022.

The pleas to slow down by Mia Marsh, whom Martin 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 in a dangerous manner and that ‘she was invincible, like she can do what she wants and no one else is stopping her’. 

She lost control on a bend at more than 70mph in a 30mph zone, smashing into a crash barrier and killing 17-year-old Mia.

Before the tragic incident Martin, who regarded Mia – who she had known since nursery – as her closest friend at the time, picked up her and two other friends and had drinks at six bars in Sunderland.

The group had pints of Strongbow Dark Fruits, Jagerbombs and vodka and Red Bulls.

An employee at one of the bars, when told by Martin her car was parked nearby, said ‘well I hope you’re not driving’ because it was obvious to him she was in no fit state to drive due to her intoxication. She said she was not driving and ordered a drink.

After her arrest, she claimed an ‘old man’ had spiked her drink but a trawl of CCTV at the bars proved this to be a lie.

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.

‘We miss Mia an unbelievable amount, our hearts are forever broken. Mia was only 17 when she was tragically taken from us. 

‘She had her whole life to look forward to. You never know how if feels to lose a child or a sister until it happens to you.

‘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.

‘We will love Mia unconditionally until we meet again baby girl. Love you so much my Mia.’

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 and was not insured to do so.   

At 12.47am, after a booze-fueled night, 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. None of them were wearing seatbelts and one of the girls told the others to put them on due to the manner of Martin’s driving.

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’.

The collision occurred as she headed west on the A1231 between the Spire Bridge and the Queen Alexander Bridge. 

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.

Mia’s family asked for CCTV of the collision to be played in court, which it was. A picture of the state of the car afterwards was also shown.  

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.

Mia died as a result of a significant head injured caused when the car hit the crash barrier. 

Investigations showed the crash was caused by the excessive speed the car was being driven at by Martin while under the influence of alcohol. 

Martin pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for eight years, of which she must serve two thirds in custody. 

She will be banned from driving for five years after she is released from prison.

Judge Christopher Prince said Martin had told the author of a pre-sentence report that the other girls got into the car knowing she had been drinking. 

But he said: ‘They didn’t know you were going to drive in the manner you did. They expected you to take care of them.’

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 a 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.’