A 15-year-old schoolboy has been killed after a driver smashed into the teenager whilst he was on his way to school. Stephen Mahebadevan, 26, was speeding at more than double the legal limit when he hit Freddie Coleman in Stock, Essex.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard that Mahebadaven was driving at 67mph in a 30mph zone and lost control of his vehicle whilst attempting to make a left-hand bend. The speed he was driving at caused him to miss the turn and instead crash into a footpath alongside the road, hitting two boys.
Freddie was thrown across the road, into the path of an oncoming van, in which the driver had no time to react to avoid him. A second young man was also injured and rushed to the hospital on the morning of November 3, 2023.
Mahbadevan pleaded guilty to causing the death of Freddie and injuring a second person by dangerous driving. He has been jailed for a total of 10 years, and disqualified from driving for 13 years and eight months at Chelmsford Crown Court.
He will serve a four-year sentence concurrently for causing serious injury to the second boy, report The Sun.
Judge Loram KC said: “What you did could well be said to be a deliberate decision to ignore the rules of the road.
“I have watched the various clips and note your speed some 80 metres before the brow of the hill.
“I can only conclude that you were speeding because you chose to and wanted to.”
According to a witness, Mahebadevan was “flying” and “travelling like a missile” before the crash.
Judge Loram said about the comments: “He consciously noted what a ridiculous speed you were travelling at.
“This was no lapse or external problem – this was how you chose to drive.
“There can be no other conclusion to draw.”
Mahebadevan tried to claim that his dangerous driving was due to a bus swerving in front of him at the last minute, and he even filed an insurance claim three days after the incident.
The judge, making note of his excuse, said: “That was not an attempt to explain yourself – you were putting forward that version of events as the truth. But it was not.”
Freddie’s grieving mother Joanne Coleman said that the day her son was killed was “the worst day of my life”. In her victim impact statement, she said: “I scream and cry for Fred. I can’t remeber when I wake up in the morning.
“But then again, when I wake up now, it feels like I haven’t been asleep at all.”