Chilling snapchats show moments before 21-year-old crashed …
Harrowing Snapchat messages have been released by the police showing passengers asking a 21-year-old to slow down as she hits 80mph on a B-road moments before a fatal crash which killed one and seriously injured two others.
Elliott Lemm, 20, was killed during the collision in Horbury, near Wakefield[1], in 2021. Chelsea Standage, of Barden Road, Wakefield, had previously pleaded guilty[2] to causing his death dangerous driving[3] and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving in relation to two other passengers in the vehicle.
The collision happened on Wakefield Road, Horbury, in the early hours of Saturday, November 13, 2021. Standage, 21, lost control of her vehicle on a bend, colliding with a wall and a parked vehicle.
She is estimated to have been travelling at over 70mph on the 30mph road and gave an evidential breath test result of 63 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.
Standage appeared at Leeds Crown Court today (Thursday, 27 July) where she was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison. She will not be considered for release from prison until she has served at least two thirds of her sentence. She was also banned from driving for 10 years.
Elliott Lemm, 20, was killed during the collision (Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Elliott’s mother Samantha Lemm provided a victim statement to the court, she said: “I don’t believe I will ever forget the night the police came to my home to tell me that my boy had died. 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.“
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Chelsea Standage was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison (Image: West Yorkshire Police)
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 injured in this collision, as they continue to rebuild their lives after this truly tragic incident.”
References
- ^ Wakefield (www.examinerlive.co.uk)
- ^ pleaded guilty (www.examinerlive.co.uk)
- ^ causing his death dangerous driving (www.examinerlive.co.uk)
- ^ ‘Distressing’ kidnap witnessed by horrified Doncaster villagers as police race to scene (www.examinerlive.co.uk)
- ^ here (www.examinerlive.co.uk)