Teenager with ‘heart of gold’ died after crash in stolen car

A TEENAGER described as having “a heart of gold” was killed in a car crash after he had been out with friends watching the World Cup final.

Mark Bamford, 19, of Huddersfield, died at the scene of the collision in Bradley after a stolen Honda Jazz, fitted with an insecure wheel, skidded out of control, hitting a parked car and a boundary wall.

Bamford’s uninsured and unlicensed friend Thomas Coulter, 21, was speeding in the Jazz to try to get away from a police van which had pulled up alongside their vehicle moments earlier.

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Coulter, of Woodman Avenue, Bradley, was said to have panicked when he saw the police van and encouraged by front-seat passenger Steven Evans, 17, accelerated away before losing control on a bend in the early hours of July 12 last year.

Bradford Crown Court heard that the day before Evans had been driving the Jazz when it suffered a punctured tyre and the so-called space-saver tyre was fitted by him as a replacement. It later emerged three of the four nuts on the tyre were loose enough to be undone by hand.

An inquiry revealed Coulter was driving at between 50mph and 73mph on the 30mph stretch of road when he lost control.

Coulter, who admitted causing Mr Bamford’s death by dangerous driving, was jailed for four years yesterday. He was given concurrent jail terms for related offences of aggravated vehicle taking resulting in a fatality and driving without insurance and without a licence.

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Evans, of Parkstones, Bradley, was sentenced to three years detention in a young offenders institution after he pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking resulting in a fatality and using a vehicle without insurance. Both men were banned from driving for four years.

The court heard how Coulter, who claimed that he and Evans had been involved in taking the Jazz a week earlier, met up with Mr Bamford at the Thirsty Man pub in Mirfield where they watched the World Cup final. The trio visited other pubs and clubs until Coulter took the wheel. Mr Bamford was in the rear and not wearing a seatbelt.

In a victim personal statement Mr Bamford’s father said his son had a “heart of gold” and was his best mate.