Teenager Thomas Johnson, 19, breathed laughing gas while driving with his three friends, Daniel Hancock, 18, Ethan Goddard, 18, and Elliot Pullen, 17. They got into a car crash while driving faster than 100mph on a 30mph road in Marcham, Oxfordshire, on June 23 last year.
The three friends suffered severe injuries before being pronounced dead at the scene. On December 18, 2024, the driver, Thomas Johnson, was sentenced to jail for nine years and four months.
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Footage was released from inside the car
Before the car crashed where the force of collision “ripped off the roof” of the car, mobile footage showed the boys passing canisters of nitrous oxide – also known as laughing gas – with Johnson inhaling some.
While Johnson survived the crash, the Oxford Crown Court heard his three friends were pronounced dead at the scene.
Johnson received 9 years in jail
On December 18 of 2024, over a year after the incident, Johnson was jailed for nine years and fourth months after admitting three counts of causing death by dangerous driving, as reported by The Daily Mail.
The families of Johnson’s friends urged people “not to be that driver who shows such disregard for their friends‘ lives.”
The sentence was passed in the afternoon
On Wednesday afternoon, Judge Emma Nott passed the sentence, telling Johnson: “You will be forever defined by your teenage mistakes but you will also have a chance to rewrite this definition.”
Johnson had suffered facial disfiguration from the crash, which the Judge told him was a “permanent reminder” of that day.
One victim’s mother spoke in court
Daniel Hancock, one of the victims, had his parents speak for him in court, with his mother reading a victim impact statement and saying that she missed her son with “every fiber of my being.”
“Every night when I lock the door and I don’t need to wait for Daniel to be home safely, it hurts. Every meal when I only need four plates, not five, it hurts,” the mother said.
Johnson survived with injuries
The 19-year-old driver survived the crash with serious injuries after his car tires were heard screeching in recovered mobile phone footage before drifting around a corner.
Johnson had been put in an induced coma after the crash, and suffers from “moderately severe” anxiety as well as amnesia.
The driver claims he doesn’t remember
As reported by Sky News, in a police interview after the crash, Johnson claimed that he doesn’t remember what happened in the car.
When asked if had ever taken the gas, he replied to the police: “No, not this year. I remember doing it once last year with a group of friends before I could even drive but I don’t have any recollection after that.”
The footage was used in court
Prosecutor Neil Moore used the mobile phone footage in court where a balloon used to inhale the laughing gas could be seen “in the mouth of the defendant.”
He continued: “It’s quite clear on the evidence that the defendant had been taking nitrous oxide from the canister with the assistance of a balloon to inhale it for some considerable time before the collision.”
Balloons were found in the car
The court heard that eight canisters of nitrous oxide were found in the boot of the car, and one was found by the driver’s footwell.
Prosecution said that forensic investigation found no other unusual conditions that could have determined the crash such as weather conditions or mechanical defects in the car.
The gas should not be taken to drive
Prosecutor Neil Moore pointed out the effects of the laughing gas being “disorientation” and “general impairment.”
An expert also said that “taking the drug is not compatible with driving a car safely and the concurrent use while driving is very dangerous due to the rapid onset of the affects.”
Johnson pleaded guilty
The driver, Thomas Johnson, confirmed his identity in front of the court before entering his guilty plea on all three counts of causing death by dangerous driving. He did so in front of the victims’ family members.
Passing the nine years and four months sentence, the Judge told Johnson he would forever be defined by his “teenage mistakes.”
