Boy racer jailed after leaving friend, 15, to die in car crash

A 17-year-old boy racer who fled the scene of a fatal crash, leaving his 15-year-old friend to die in the wreckage, has been detained for five and a half years.

Billy Conroy was just 16 when he crashed a Mazda 6 in Newcastle while fleeing from police, causing “catastrophic” injuries to passenger Conner Loder.

The court heard how Conroy and two other youths ran away from the scene, abandoning Loder and another injured passenger who had suffered a broken leg.

Conroy, of Ellesmere Road in Newcastle, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

The crash occurred around 1am on June 10 this year after police spotted the Mazda had no front registration plate.

Conroy had illegally purchased the car for £400 just two days earlier and fitted it with stolen number plates.

Witnesses described his driving as “ridiculous” as the car undertook vehicles and ran through a red light in Chapel House, in western Newcastle.

The teenager was driving in “sport mode” at approximately 50mph in a 30mph zone when he lost control on Stamfordham Road, causing the vehicle to fishtail and collide with a signpost.

Earlier that night, the group had been seen speeding around Newcastle, with passengers gesturing at pedestrians and playing loud music.

The court heard Conroy had a history of dangerous driving offences dating back to age 12.

In August 2022, he led police on a 140mph pursuit in a Mercedes from Newburn to Hexham along the A69, with passengers throwing items from the car to deter officers.

Even after causing Loder’s death, Conroy was caught riding a motorbike while disqualified on 22 June.

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His defence lawyer told the court he felt safer in vehicles than on foot due to feeling at risk in the local area.

The teenager has ten previous convictions and suffers from PTSD, learning difficulties, depression and anxiety.

Loder’s mother Georgina Taylor told Newcastle Crown Court: “My life will always be sad and lonely because I’m missing a big part of me. He was my world, I loved him so much.”

She described how her five-year-old son now cries for his brother, adding: “How do you tell a five-year-old he is not coming back?”

“They all ran and left him there lifeless. Who does that to anyone, especially if they considered him a friend,” she told the court.

“It kills me every day to know he had no one there with him and how scared he would be.”

Judge Tim Gittins said Conroy was “showing off” and was “an accident waiting to happen.”

The judge criticised the youth’s “bravado and arrogance,” saying he wished “every boy racer” who thought it was “big and cool” to drive dangerously would learn lessons from Loder’s death.

Conroy must serve two-thirds of his five-and-a-half-year detention, followed by a three-year extended licence period.

He was also banned from driving for eight years and eight months and will need to take an extended test.