Drunk driver laughs off her friends’ terrified cries - moments before killing man in 70mph crash
28 July 2023, 16:07 | Updated: 31 July 2023, 20:22
A drunk driver killed a passenger in a crash after losing control while doing 70mph down residential streets.
Chelsea Standage, now aged 21, was heard saying ‘I’m only doing 80mph’ in footage filmed inside her speeding car. A female passenger cries at her “slow down.”
Moments before tragedy struck, a male voice can be heard saying: “Mate she’s never experienced a crash hahaha.”
Passenger Elliott Lemm, 20, died in the crash in Horbury, near Wakefield in the small hours of Saturday November 13 2021.
She lost control on a bend, hitting a wall and a parked vehicle at over 70mph while nearly twice the drink-drive limit.
She was jailed for eight years and eight months yesterday at Leeds Crown Court and banned from driving for 10 years.
Elliott’s mother Samantha Lemm said in a statement: “I don’t believe I will ever forget the night the police came to my home to tell me that my boy had died.
Chelsea Standage sentenced for causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving
"The day that I had to close the lid on his coffin and put Elliott into the dark I knew that it was forever.
"Elliot was taken so suddenly there was still so much for him to do and so much I wanted to say to him. Every morning when I wake up my heart is broken.“
Detective Sergeant Paul Lightowler, of the Major Collision Enquiry Team, said: "Chelsea Standage’s reckless actions on that night have had an absolutely devastating impact not just on those in the car but their families, friends and the wider community.
“People may recall this collision and the media coverage of Snapchat messages sent from within the car with one of the passengers telling Chelsea to ‘slow down’.
“Sadly, the speed she was travelling at and her impaired judgement from drinking alcohol killed one person and seriously injured two others.
“Elliott was just 20 years old when he died, with his whole life ahead of him. His family and the police hope that by highlighting the events leading up to this collision that it might make others think twice about driving after a night out.
“I hope that the conclusion of this court case brings some closure for Elliott’s family, and the two other young people.”
