Double-death drug driver Jordon White tried to pin blame for Bedfordshire crash on brother he killed
An uninsured driver killed his own brother and a girl he was trying to impress when he crashed into a tree - before fleeing the scene and claiming that his dead brother had been behind the wheel.
Jordon White, 20, had no licence and was over the legal cannabis limit when he crossed double white lines on a hill to overtake an Audi on 18 January.
The black Corsa, which had fake plates and would have failed an MOT, spun out of control and crashed into a hedge before backing into a tree on Toddington Road, near the village of Tebworth in Bedfordshire.
White’s former girlfriend Ellie Ogden-Cooper, 19, was thrown from the car and died in a field. His brother Reece White, 23, was found dead in the back seat.
The front seat passenger, a 21-year-old man and another rear seat passenger, a 16-year-old boy, suffered serious injuries.
White, of Wallis Drive, Leighton Buzzard, was jailed for six years at St Albans crown court, having pleading guilty to two charges of causing death by dangerous driving and two of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
'Driving to impress ex-girlfriend'
Prosecutor Stefan Weidmann said: “This defendant was driving a car with four other people in it. It overtook another car at speed, crossing double white lines on the crest of a hill. It was an appalling piece of driving.
“He was unlicensed and over the drug-drive limit. Warnings about his driving had been disregarded. He was uninsured and had no MOT. He ran from his friends and his brother, leaving others to help.”
White had paid £400 for the Corsa, which would have failed its MOT, the court heard. Its airbags did not deploy, and it had cloned number plates.
He had picked Ms Ogden-Hooper up from Flitwick and his front seat passenger said he was driving irresponsibly to impress her. He said they had been smoking cannabis all day and White had been showing off.
White only had a provisional licence and none of the others had a full licence to supervise him.
After the crash, White and the two surviving passengers fled and he was found hiding in a shed nearly two hours later.
White, who had suffered multiple fractures, claimed he had been a passenger in the car and his brother was driving. A blood sample taken from him gave a reading of 2.6mg for cannabis - the legal limit being 2mg.
'We are in pieces'
Ms Ogden-Hooper's mother said her daughter, who worked as a carer, had everything to look forward to.
“As a family we will never get over losing our beautiful Ellie. We are in pieces. Our precious memories are all that we have,” she said.
Reece White’s family said: “We are devastated at the loss of Reece. He was a much-loved son, brother and grandson.
“He made an impression on everyone he met and leaves a hole in the family that will never be filled. He will be missed forever.”
Defending, Darryl Cherrett said White had been in care since the age of 12, was immature and may have ADHD.
He said: “He has to live with what he did that day. He expressed genuine remorse for the pain he has caused to Ellie’s family and his own.”
Jailing him, Judge Michael Kay QC said White had been "driving too fast and showing off", then fled the scene in a “cowardly fashion".
He said: “In a callous and utterly despicable way you sought to blame your own deceased brother for what occurred.
"It is almost beyond comprehension that you sought to apportion blame to him to save your own skin.”
The judge banned White from driving for nine years.
Two drivers who stopped to try to help Reece White in the car are to receive a High Sheriff’s award of £500.
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