Teenager jailed for crash that killed his girlfriend on country road

A teenage driver who killed his ‘beautiful’ girlfriend in a horror crash along a country road has been jailed for five-and-a-half years.

Logan Addison, 19, caused the death of Lily-May Vaughan, 17, after losing control of his Volkswagen Golf near Shawbury Heath, Shropshire, on February 4, 2023.

Witnesses described him going ‘fast as f***’ in a ‘flash of a blur’ before he destroyed a hedge, fence and an electricity pole, which snapped in two.

The car flipped over onto its roof, and Lily-May was pronounced dead at the scene on the A53 shortly after midday.

She had been wearing a seatbelt as the front seat passenger, but Addison, who was 17 at the time, was not.

Just seven weeks after the fatal collision, Addison was caught driving dangerously by performing doughnuts on a Tesco car park in Shrewsbury.

Addison has been convicted of driving offences three more times since causing his partner’s death.

He broke his back in seven places and fractured his neck in the collision, and went on to plead guilty to causing death by careless driving.

On Friday, Addison was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving and sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court.

Sentencing Judge Deni Mathews said: ‘Your driving has brought disruption, destruction and carnage to the family of a beautiful young woman.

‘It is astonishing, utterly astonishing that weeks after this collision which caused the death of your girlfriend, you were driving carelessly and without insurance, performing doughnuts in a supermarket car park.’

The court heard Addison, of Market Drayton, ‘revved, dumped the clutch and wheel-spun’ away from the Shawbury town centre traffic lights onto a 1.2-mile road.

Another motorist, Harrison Cowley, told police at the scene that Addison was ‘going like f**k’.

PC Sarah Fraser-Smith said it was ‘likely’ that Addison was travelling above the 60 mph speed limit, but could not give an accurate estimate of his speed.

Addison maintained a story that he lost control of his vehicle when he swerved to avoid another car.

Miss Vaughan’s mother, Leanne, said Addison was a ‘danger to society’ as she delivered her victim impact statement.

‘The fact that he has the audacity to reoffend is unforgivable,’ she said. ‘The actions of Mr Addison have greatly affected my life. He has, quite simply, ruined it. It is against the natural order for a mother to lose her child at the age of 17.

‘She was a healthy, happy young lady with a bright future ahead of her.’

Robert Edwards, defending, asked the judge not to take Addison’s lack of remorse as an aggravating factor due to his ‘immaturity’ and ‘lack of emotional intelligence’.

Addison was also banned from driving for eight years. Lily-May’s mum, Leanne, stepdad Andy and other family members previously spoke outside court.

Leanne said: ‘She was killed on February 4, 2023. It has been two years of absolute hell. She was the light of our lives.

‘She was such a beautiful daughter and meant the world to us. It’s wrong that a girl with the world at her feet can be just killed like that. Justice has been done today. I would like to thank the jury for their hard work. Today has shown me there is some good in the world.

‘I think she was too good for this world. She always wanted to help people. She loved animals. She loved her family. There is a massive hole in our family.

‘I want this to be a message: that driving is a privilege. Maybe it will make people stop and think. The youth need to be educated. We’ll keep campaigning for graduated driving licences.’

Julian Smith, of West Mercia Police, said: ‘As the trial has now concluded, we are able to reveal that Addison continued to put other road users at risk by driving dangerously.’

After being caught driving dangerously in Tesco’s car park, he was charged with driving without due care and attention and driving without insurance.

Then, on April 1, 2023, Addison was again caught by officers near Newport driving dangerously and was also found in possession of a knife.

For this, he was charged with using a motor vehicle in a dangerous condition, driving without insurance and possession of an offensive weapon.

On July 26, 2023, Addison was disqualified from driving and given six points on his licence. Less than a month after he was sentenced, he was caught driving while disqualified on August 1, 2023. He was charged with driving while disqualified and having no insurance.

He was given an eight-week sentence suspended for 12 months on August 22, 2023, at Telford Magistrates Court.

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