Shocking footage of teenage driver inhaling laughing gas before killing three friends in 100mph crash
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This is the shocking moment a teenage driver inhales nitrous oxide before crashing at speeds of more than 100mph, killing three young friends. Thomas Johnson, 19, had been behind the wheel of a BMW 3 series when he lost control and ploughed into roadside furniture and a tree on the A415 in Marcham, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
Johnson was jailed for nine years and four months at Oxford Crown Court on Wednesday for causing the deaths of Elliot Pullen, 17, Ethan Goddard, 18 and Daniel Hancock, 18, by dangerous driving on June 20, 2023. The force of the collision “ripped the roof off” the car and all three victims suffered “unsurvivable injuries” and were pronounced dead at the scene, the court heard.
Addressing Johnson, the judge said his actions were “all for teenage thrills” and as a result “your three passengers will never see beyond their teenage years and you move out of yours significantly and permanently disabled”. The court was shown video clips recovered from the phones of those who had been travelling in the car in which a balloon, typically used to inhale the gas, could be seen in Johnson’s mouth.
Two separate clips showed Johnson driving one-handed while holding a balloon as the car swerved in one video and accelerated at speed in the other. Another showed Johnson with a balloon in his mouth as he was stationary behind the wheel at a red light while a passenger can be heard laughing in the background.
