Judge criticises parents of teenager who killed two friends in car crash for ‘overindulging’ him

Owain Hammett-George had passed his test just three months before the fatal collision in Bishopston, Swansea

Owain Hammett-George has been jailed for six years (PA Media)

A judge has criticised parents for “overindulging” their teenage son who killed two friends while driving at double the speed limit.

Owain Hammett-George, 19, was jailed for six years on Thursday after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and death by careless driving in February this year. He also pleaded guilty to one count of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Just three months after the teenager passed his driving test, he crashed his Alfa Romeo into a petrol station forecourt at high speeds and killed Ben Rogers and Kaitlyn Davies, also both 19, instantly.

Casey Thomas, then aged 17, also sustained life-changing injuries during the incident on the B4436 in Bishopston, Swansea, on May 31 2022.

Following the collision, it emerged that Hammett-George had been caught speeding just a week after passing his test in February 2022, but his father Dewi George took the blame to avoid him getting points on his licence.

Judge Geraint Walters, sentencing Hammett-George at Swansea Crown Court, said the then 17 year old was “showing off” as he sped down the 30mph road at 78mph and criticised his parents.

Ben Rogers and Kaitlyn Davies both died instantly (Swansea Police/PA)

“You were nowhere near ready to be entrusted with a motor car at the time that you were,” he told the court. “You are immature and, in my judgment on the facts of this case as I read it, are overindulged by your parents.”

He added: “You were overindulged – a car before you were fit to have one, out late in the evening with other youngsters in the car.

“Your parents were aware of the potential danger because there are messages passing between you and other family members that says so.

“Within a very short period of passing your test, that you were to be prosecuted for speeding – albeit for a modest increase in that case – it was a sense of what might be coming.

“The greatest act of indulgence is to take the responsibility for your conduct onto the shoulders of your own father.”

I have no shadow of a doubt that you purposefully took the decision to exceed the speed limit

Judge Geraint Walters

Messages found on Hammett-George’s mobile phone included his mother previously warning “black box going on your car” and saying she hoped he received further speeding fines “so you lose your job and then the car will 100% be off you”.

On 26 February – just five days after passing his test – a message believed to be from the defendant’s sister warned he was “putting everyone at risk”.

It added: “Do everyone a favour and pack it in please before it is too late.”

The judge said the case raised the issue of whether recently qualified drivers should be allowed to carry passengers immediately after passing their tests.

“On this particular evening, you were in your motor car with three of your young friends. You were showing off,” the judge told the defendant.

“You drove at grossly excessive speeds to the point where you lost control of the vehicle and immediately effectively extinguished the lives of two of those in the car.”

The court heard Hammett-George had collected Miss Davies and Miss Thomas from work in Swansea at about 10pm.

He was driving on the B4436 when he lost control of the car, which left the road, landed on its roof and then crashed into a concrete pillar by one of the pumps at Northway petrol station at about 11pm.

Hammett-George, along with Mr Rogers and Miss Davies, were ejected from the vehicle.

The defendant was not wearing a seatbelt, but had it buckled underneath him to stop the warning sounding when the incident took place.

Passing motorists and local residents immediately came to the aid of those injured, including administering CPR to Mr Rogers and Miss Davies, but their injuries were not survivable.

Prosecuting, Ian Wright said the vehicle was “unrecognisable” after the crash, with its engine block situated 15 metres away.

Hammett-George, who also sustained serious injuries in the collision, wrongly told officers at the scene that he was driving at 60mph and hit a pothole that threw him to the right.

Just seven days after he passed his test, he was also caught speeding his car with a personalised number plate spelling OW11AAN but his father Dewi George had claimed he was driving.

Following the fatal accident, police investigated the speeding offence and found George had been working in Cardiff at that time.

He was jailed for four months in July 2023 after admitting perverting the course of justice.

Victim personal statements from the families of Mr Rogers and Miss Davies, as well as a statement from Miss Thomas, were read to the court detailing the devastating impact of the crash.

Carla King, the mother of Mr Rogers, said her son was “full of kindness” and shared the “best advice”.

Kimberley Davies, the mother of Miss Davies, said of her daughter: “She was just an amazing human being – vibrant, bubbly, with a wonderful sense of humour”.

Miss Thomas told how she had experienced serious injuries from the collision and had been left with anxiety, adding: “I will never be the same outgoing person I was”.

Representing Hammett-George, Alex Greenwood said his client expressed the “deepest and most profound remorse” for what happened.

In a letter to the court, the defendant wrote: “If there was any way I could turn back time and prevent this tragedy from happening I would do so in a heartbeat.”