Driver admits killing friend in late-night crash
A TEENAGE driver described as a "dangerous show-off" behind the wheel has admitted killing a friend in a late-night car crash.
Roland Simey lost control on a bend and smashed into a road sign after leaving a party on October 14 last year.
His front seat passenger, Christopher Ellis, 17, suffered multiple injuries and died at the scene on the A6003 Uppingham Road near Caldecott.
Simey originally denied causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed alcohol limit.
But the 18-year-old from Oakham changed his plea to guilty part way through a trial at Leicester Crown Court.
Today, a judge warned him that it was inevitable he would face custody.
Simey, who is known as Grant to his friends, and Mr Ellis, of Manton, had been driving to an all-night garage in Corby to pick up food following the 18th birthday party in Oakham.
His Citroen Saxo careered off the road and hit the metal sign, which was uprooted by the force of the impact, at about 4.15am.
Simey, of Kilburn End, Oakham, suffered a broken leg and two rear-seat passengers were also hurt.
The jury had heard a sample taken by police around six hours later revealed Simey had 31mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood - the legal limit is 80mg.
But forensic expert Katie Squires told the court she calculated that Simey would have had 138mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood at the time of the incident, although a range of 90 to 179mg was possible.
Matthew Lowe, prosecuting, had earlier said that Simey had built up a reputation among his friends as a "fast and reckless" driver despite the fact he had passed his test just six weeks before the crash.
He told the court: "Behind the wheel, he was a dangerous show-off."
Mr Lowe added that one witness described Simey as "showing off" by driving the wrong way around a mini-roundabout in Uppingham ahead of the smash.
The jury heard that although Simey's exact speed when he hit the sign could not be calculated, he "drove at an inappropriate speed for the road conditions and his experience."
In an interview after his arrest, the teenager told police that he couldn't remember the party or the journey afterwards.
Witnesses told the court Simey admitted to them that he had smoked cannabis at the bash - although Miss Squires said there was no trace of the drug in his blood.
Jennifer Hart, defending, said Simey had expressed "grief and remorse" at the death of Mr Ellis, a sixthform student at The Rutland College in Oakham.
She added: "He is still coming to terms with the loss of someone he thought of as his best friend. He has been reliving the experience every day."
Sentencing was adjourned until December 12 for reports but Judge Michael Pert QC told Simey, who was remanded into custody, that it was "inevitable" he would be sent to a young offenders' institution.
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