A young woman from Derby has been jailed for killing her 17-year-old friend during a drink-driving accident after she lost control of her car and smashed into a tree. Derby Crown Court heard Melissa Keilloh told her mother she was 'too drunk' to drive before she got behind the wheel after a party on October 22, 2021.
However, she decided to drive anyway while over the drink-drive limit and sped down country lanes before clipping a kerb on a corner and crashing into a tree. Phoebe Johnson, who was a passenger in the car at the time, tragically lost her life as a result of the awful incident, the Derby Telegraph reports.
In a victim impact statement read to the judge by her father Paul who is a retired police officer, he said his hatred of the defendant 'is only matched by the love for my daughter and that's the only thing that keeps me going'. Judge Shaun Smith KC jailed Keilloh for three years as he said: "Where does one begin when the driving of someone has changed the lives of so many forever? I have watched the entirety of that journey which ended in tragedy".
