Speeding Doncaster driver who killed three people while '˜showing off' to teenage passengers is jailed for eight years

Ricky Joe Hepworth, 24, from Doncaster, was ‘showing off’ to his two 15-year-old passengers when he ploughed into a group of four friends who had been out enjoying a night of celebration.

Andrew Tomlinson, aged 48, his wife Faye Tomlinson, 54, and Mandy Deere, 54, all died in the incident.

Mrs Deere’s husband, John Deere, 57, is still in hospital four months later after being thrown more than two metres into the air and into a school playground. Because of his condition, he has had to be told his wife and best friends are dead several times.

Hepworth, of Newmarche Drive, Askern, who wept as he was sentenced, must serve four years in custody before he is eligible for release. He was also banned from driving for 11 years.

He admitted three counts of causing death by dangerous driving and one count of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. The defendant was driving a Volvo S60 when it hit the two couples in Sutton Road, Askern on December 26 last year.

Sentencing at Sheffield Crown Court, Judge Julian Goose said: “You saw those four people, who had been enjoying their evening, and ploughed into them – and by doing so you killed three people.

“The force of the accident was such that you caused another person to be thrown 2.1 metres high into the playground of the school nearby. I cannot imagine the grief those families have felt since that night.”

The court heard how Hepworth was travelling nearly three times faster than the 20mph speed limit.

Prosecutor Simon Kealey told the court how moments before the fatal collision a 15-year-old passenger travelling with Hepworth had told him to slow down – but he ignored the request.

While toxicology reports showed that Hepworth was under the legal limit for alcohol levels, the court heard how he had drunk four Budvar beers and smoked cannabis in the hours leading up to the collision. Further blood tests also found traces of ecstasy and cocaine in his system.

The court heard how Hepworth had gone to the Red Lion pub in Askern with his mother, who had given him the car’s keys to look after because she was planning to “have a few drinks” and would not be driving again that evening.

Without his mother’s permission, Hepworth left to pick up a 15-year-old friend and drove to the Jet Garage in Selby Road, Askern to pick up a second 15-year-old. Hepworth had neither a driving licence nor insurance.

Mr Kealey said: “The back seat passenger said the defendant was showing off. He was wheel spinning and revving the engine. As they drove back to the village he continued to ‘show off’ and was driving at speed.”

The court heard that after the crash, Hepworth dropped off his passengers and then drove to Askern Lake, where he parked the car and threw the keys in the lake. In the early hours of December 27, he phoned the police to tell them about the collision saying: “I’ve knocked three people down.”

In a statement, the Tomlinson family said: “We miss mum and Andrew terribly, our lives will never be the same again, all through the actions of a driver who shouldn’t have been driving.”

A statement from the Deere family said of John: “He remains in hospital, he has not only lost his wife of 30 years but also his two best friends.”