Newly qualified driver detained after killing three teenagers in head-on crash

A newly qualified driver with a history of speeding, “showing off” and bad driving has been sentenced to two years’ detention for killing three other teenagers in a catastrophic head-on crash.

Edward Spencer also left two young children and their stepmother with life-changing injuries after losing control of his Ford Fiesta while speeding at 64mph on a country road near Shipston-on-Stour in Warwickshire.

A judge sitting at Warwick Crown Court described the actions of Spencer, who was 17 at the time of the crash but is now 19, as “pure folly”.

The court heard Spencer changed his plea at a previous hearing to admit causing the deaths of 17-year-old Harry Purcell and 16-year-olds Tilly Seccombe and Frank Wormald by careless driving.

He also pleaded guilty to three counts of causing serious injury, after crashing into an oncoming car while en route home from Chipping Campden School in Gloucestershire in April 2023 with his three fellow pupils as front and rear seat passengers.

Two young children in the other car suffered life-changing injuries, while their stepmother was knocked unconscious and also badly hurt.

Judge Andrew Lockhart KC was told Spencer, of Armscote Road, Newbold-on-Stour, Warwickshire, only passed his driving test six weeks earlier but social media videos discovered after the crash had exposed a history of “showing off, driving too quickly and failing to heed the warnings of those who were in the car with him”.

It also emerged that Tilly had previously sent a Snapchat message to Spencer complaining about his driving but he had responded that she had “underestimated” him.

Passing sentence, the judge told Spencer his previous and habitual poor driving meant that there was a “terrible inevitability” about the “catastrophic” crash.

The judge said of the social media evidence, including video of Spencer passing a mobility scooter at more than 50mph: “It is disturbing material and it seriously aggravates the position you find yourself in.

“This is material that is indisputable, largely captured on video. There is here clear and crystal clear evidence of previous poor driving.”

The crash was caused by a “lethal combination” of grossly excessive speed and a failure to drive to the road conditions, the judge said.

The families of those killed criticised Spencer for an apparent lack of remorse, including a social media post in which he said of the fatal crash: “It’s not my fault, I’m a good driver.”

In a statement to the court, the mother of Tilly, Juliet Seccombe, said the decision of Spencer, a trainee joiner, to accept a job close to her home after the crash had been “astonishing and unbelievably callous”.

A written statement prepared by Tilly’s mother added: “There are no winners here today – only losers. We have lost our beautiful daughter who had a zest for life and had her future mapped out before her.

“Edward Spencer took away that life due to his reckless behaviour putting his own ego before the safety of himself, his passengers and other road users.”

Frank’s father David read a victim impact statement to the court in which he described Spencer’s actions in causing the crash as senseless and selfish.

The grieving father said the impact on his family had been so severe that “the people we were no longer exist.”

Harry’s mother Toni Purcell said in a statement that her family were experiencing “a never-ending nightmare” and a lifetime of sadness.

She said of her son, who supported Chelsea FC: “He had always wanted Chelsea season tickets. And for years we’d tried to get them for him.

“Only last year Chelsea contacted us to say that they had some available. Sadly Harry will never get to enjoy them with his brother.

“Not only has Harry been taken from us, he’s been taken from his sister and his twin brother and many family members who loved him.”

The court heard CCTV showed Spencer was driving at significantly in excess of the speed limit as he passed a pub three miles away from the crash scene on the B4035 Campden Road.

Prosecutor Timothy Harrington told the court the crash occurred at the exit of a bend, near to signs warning motorists to slow down.

Spencer told police he was a careful driver and that he could remember nothing about the crash, having suffered a head injury which did not require surgery and a ruptured diaphragm.

Defence counsel Daniel White, offering mitigation for Spencer, read out part of a letter the defendant submitted to the judge before sentence was passed.

Spencer’s letter read: “I never intended for this to happen but I know that does not change the pain and loss that others suffered.

“There are no words strong enough to express how sorry I am. Every day I live with the pain of knowing how many lives have been impacted.”