A judge yesterday appealed to teenage male drivers to slow down while on the roads.
Judge Corinne Philpott QC made the appeal as she disqualified a teenager from driving for three years after he admitted racing along a Co Derry road against another teenager who died after his car crashed.
Martin Higgins (19), from Motaloe Road, Desertmartin, Co Derry, died when his car went off the Toome bypass road in the early hours of February 13th, 2005. At the time of the accident the student was racing against Alan David Parke, (19), an apprentice stonemason from Shore Road, Ballyronan.
At the Crown Court in Derry yesterday, Parke, the father of an 11-week-old baby, pleaded guilty to charges of dangerous driving and of obstructing a police officer in due execution of his duty.As well as the disqualification, Parke was given a one-year prison sentence, suspended for four years.