A ‘maniac’ driver who knocked down and killed an aspiring doctor whilst driving at 80mph in a 30mph zone has been jailed for 15 years.
Ashton Kitchen-White died at the scene after he was mowed down by Regan Kemp, 26, who was driving a Ford Focus ST in Leeds on May 16 this year, a court heard.
The 19-year-old was getting ready to begin studying to become a doctor at Leeds University at the time of his death.
Leeds Crown Court heard emotional statements from his parents where one said: ‘My life is over – my heart and soul died with him and nothing will ever be the same again.’
Kemp was being recorded on a mobile phone by a backseat passenger in the car whilst he was driving.
A witness in the car at the time said that Kemp had been driving ‘like a maniac’.
Despite this, he denied being behind the wheel and sought to shift the blame onto his friend and never once showed any remorse for his actions.
There was an audible cheer from the public gallery when the judge announced the jury, who deliberated for less than two hours, had found him unanimously guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.
Regan Kemp, 26, was found unanimously guilty by the jurors of causing death by dangerous driving
Kemp was handed a sentence of 15 years and six months and was banned from driving for more than 17 years.
He has a multitude of previous driving offences, including taking without the owner’s consent, dangerous driving, driving without a licence and most significantly, perverting the course of justice by attempting to blame another person for driving offences.
Judge Neil Clark told him that he would ‘never contribute to society’ like Mr Kitchen-White, who was due to start a medical degree.
He told Kemp: ‘You sought to blame an obviously innocent man.
‘You ran this case, despite what seems to me to be the strongest of evidence.
‘Never once have you admitted what you did. Never once have you expressed any remorse. Never once have you said you made a mistake.’
During the hearing, statements written by Mr Kitchen-White’s family were read out to the court by the prosecutor, Paul Mitchell.
In an emotional note written by Mr Kitchen-White’s mother, Hayley White, she said: ‘I can’t describe the devastation of the loss of my sweet boy.
Ashton Kitchen-White (pictured) at the time of his death was getting ready to start studying to become a doctor at Leeds University
‘My life is over – my heart and soul died with him and nothing will ever be the same again. I think about him all day, every day. I still say “good morning” and “good night sweetheart” when I walk past his bedroom.
‘I can’t breathe. I would give anything to take his place.’
In a statement by his father, Andrew Kitchen, he said: ‘A big part of me died with Ashton.
‘As his dad I was meant to protect him, and I could not do that. It will continue to haunt me until the day I die.
‘He was my first born and my first true love. My soul has been ripped out – I feel empty.
‘I’m living in a nightmare and functioning like a robot because I have nothing left inside of me.’
Kemp had driven the Ford Focus from Scotland on the afternoon of May 16, bound for Leeds with two of his friends driving in convoy in a Mini Cooper.
They were travelling to the Middleton area of the West Yorkshire city to potentially swap the Focus for a VW Golf GTD.
Pictured: Beeston Park Ring Road close to where Ashton Kitchen-White was struck by Kemp driving Ford Focus ST in Leeds on May 16 this year
Kemp took the proposed recipient of the Focus for a test drive after arriving at the Leeds address around 10pm.
The witness who took the footage from the backseat of the Focus later told the jury that Kemp was ‘driving like a maniac’, revving the engine and accelerating at speed.
Moments later, the Focus struck 19-year-old Mr Kitchen-White on the pelican crossing on Ring Road Beeston with the sickening thud being heard on the camera-phone footage.
Experts calculated the Focus was travelling at 80mph on the 30mph stretch when it hit Mr Kitchen-White.
The Crown said he suffered catastrophic injuries and had ‘no chance’ of surviving.
Mr Kitchen-White, who had enrolled at Leeds University and harboured ambitions of becoming a doctor, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Minutes after the collision, Kemp got into the Mini Cooper with his friends and drove back to Scotland.
He then made his way back down to his home in Lafrowda Close, Penzance, Cornwall.
An appeal was put out for his arrest and he handed himself into the police station days later.
He was transported back to Leeds where he told officers it was his friend from Scotland who was responsible.
But in addition to the backseat-passenger footage, the only fingerprints found in the Focus belonged to Kemp.
Additional CCTV which caught the car being abandoned moments after the crash showed him exiting from the driver’s door.
Kemp also refused to take to the witness box to give his side of the story during the trial.