Drink-driver jailed for eight years after teenage passenger killed in Castleford crash
A drink driver who caused the death of his teenage passenger after losing control of a borrowed car has been jailed for eight years.
Jamie Bouncer, 22, had borrowed a VW Golf from an address in Castleford where he had been at an after-party following a night out.
In the early hours of 12 January last year, he took the car for a drive along Wheldon Road with 18-year-old Taylor Lupton and the vehicle’s 21-year-old owner.
Moments later, Bouncer – who only held a provisional driving licence – lost control of the car. It crashed through a fence into a site belonging to Yorkshire Water and came to rest in a disused water treatment tank.
Mr Lupton, a father of two, was thrown from the vehicle and suffered serious head injuries. He died at the scene. The car’s owner was seriously injured.
Appearing before Leeds Crown Court, Bouncer, of Hall Street, Pontefract, admitted causing death by dangerous driving. He also pleaded guilty to causing death while drink driving, causing death while driving uninsured and causing death while driving without a full licence.
The court heard he had been drinking at a nightclub before going to an after-party at the car owner’s home.
The collision happened shortly after 05:40 GMT in darkness, with freezing and wet conditions. Investigators believe Bouncer was driving in excess of the 30mph speed limit.
He was breath-tested more than an hour after the crash and recorded 57 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.
As well as being jailed for eight years, Bouncer was banned from driving for 10 years and four months.
In a victim personal statement, Mr Lupton’s girlfriend, Megan Carswell, described the lasting impact of his death.
“I live with a constant sense of numbness, fear, and disbelief. I still cannot fully process that he is gone and not coming back,” she said.
“Our son will never get chance to meet his daddy, and Taylor will never get chance to meet his son. Our son should be able to grow up and know who his daddy is in real life, but instead he will only know photos, videos, and hear stories about his daddy.
“What hurts even more is that Taylor never even got the chance to know that I was carrying his baby boy. I found out I was pregnant 10 days after he died.
“Taylor also has a daughter who was 11 months old at the time he was killed. He was meant to see her the day he died. She still looks at photos of him and points and says daddy.
“Taylor’s future was stolen from him. His chance to watch both his daughter and son grow up was taken away by the defendant. This loss is permanent and will follow me and his children for the rest of our lives.”
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