Mia Howarth, then 18, had used her phone while driving to check road maps and Spotify, and was filming her boyfriend hanging out of her car window when tragedy struck
A teenage father was killed in a devastating crash after his girlfriend recorded him leaning out of a vehicle she was driving. Front seat passenger Alfie Lovett, 17, was positioned on the window ledge of the car with his feet inside and his torso outside as Mia Howarth, 21, travelled along a narrow country lane.
However, as she recorded him on her mobile phone, the vehicle swerved off the carriageway at 35mph and crashed into a drystone wall near Harrogate, North Yorks.
Alfie sustained fatal injuries despite frantic efforts by witnesses who administered CPR for 15 minutes before paramedics reached the scene. When officers arrived, one of the three passengers revealed that Howarth had instructed them “more than five times” to fasten their seat belts.
Howarth, now 21, of Horbury near Wakefield, received her sentence at York Crown Court after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.
Judge Sean Morris stated: “The boys were doing what stupid young boys do – playing around, hanging out of the window. Both Alfie and his friend did that.”
He informed Howarth that she should to have stopped driving and refused to continue until they were inside.
She had previously received a warning from her father regarding ensuring all passengers wore seat belts. Yet she carried on driving.
The court was told she worsened the situation by using her mobile phone and consequently could not have been conscious of her vehicle’s direction.
Howarth received a three-year prison sentence and was disqualified from driving for six years and six months. She is required to pass an extended driving test before she can drive alone again.
The accident occurred in the early evening of 12 September 2023, when she was just 18 years old. The prosecution did not provide a reason in court for the delay in charging her.
Alfie’s father expressed to the court: “Alfie’s loss will be part of me forever. The gap in my heart that almost feels physical, every day remains in the background.”
He further noted that Mia had been a positive influence on Alfie and helped keep him out of trouble.
Alfie’s mother stated: “This tragic incident has changed the course of two generations of our family.”
Alfie’s infant son was born 12 weeks prior to his death, according to the family.
For Howarth, Glenn Parsons stated: “She has killed her partner and a loved one, and knows more than anybody what damage that has done to the family.
“She has been living it every moment of every second since. Her heart goes out to Alfie’s family. She is as sorry, contrite and as remorseful as anyone can be.”
Mr Parsons mentioned that Howarth received threats from Alfie’s friends following the accident. She had resigned from her job at a care home and relocated to a different area.
Prosecutor Chloe Hudson revealed that Howarth’s phone had been used multiple times during the drive, to access a maps app and Spotify, as well as its camera.