A TEENAGE driver whose "bright and talented" passenger was killed when their car hit a tree at double the speed limit has been jailed for two years.

Richard Briggs, now 20, was behind the wheel of his Citroen Saxo when it took a corner too fast and hit the tree, killing his 17-year-old passenger, Jack O'Dare.

Briggs suffered a long-term brain injury as a result of the incident, which happened at Hartshay Hill, Ripley, in August last year, Derby Crown Court was told.

The stretch of road where the crash happened has a speed limit of 30mph, but it was accepted by the defence that the car was travelling in the region of 60mph.

Siward James-Moore, prosecuting, said Mr O'Dare, of Ironville, had been with friends in Ripley Market Place shortly before the crash.

He said: "He was going to leave with a friend, Samuel Jenkins, but took the decision to go for a quick ride with another friend (Briggs) in his car to the A38 and back."

The court heard that a short time after, a loud bang was heard as Briggs' car travelled around a corner and smashed into a tree after it veered on to the opposite side of the road and mounted a verge.

Mr James-Moore explained that the impact with the tree had caused the front of the vehicle to split in two.

Mr O'Dare was taken to Derbyshire Royal Infirmary but died shortly afterwards.

The court heard Mr O'Dare's mother suffered a second tragedy just two months after the incident when Mr O'Dare's father died through illness.

Mr James-Moore said: "His mother states that she cannot express how she feels having lost her son and then her husband."

Alistair Munt, for Briggs, of The Gardens, Marehay, said his client had taken the corner too fast, accepted responsibility for the crash and pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. He said: "If this defendant could turn back the clock, he clearly would.

"He is aged 20 and remembers nothing of the incident.

"After speaking to his mother, Marina, it is quite clear that she has effectively lost her son as well.

"The man present in court is very different to the son she knew before the severe brain injury."

Sentencing Briggs, Judge John Gosling said Mr O'Dare's family has lost "a bright and talented young man who had a bright future ahead of him".

He said: "Jack's life cannot be measured in a prison term but you have to be punished for the terrible consequences of what you did.

"It is clear from statements from witnesses who saw your driving that you had met with other young friends and were showing off, flooring the accelerator and driving as fast as the car would travel.

"You will live forever with the consequence of what you did. You lost, in Jack, a friend.

"I have read a lot about you and it is plain that your remorse is heartfelt."