A GRIEVING mother who lost her teenage son in a devastating car crash is backing a Christmas campaign highlighting the dangers of drink and drug driving.

Seventeen-year-old James Docherty was killed as he returned from his first night out in Newcastle when the car driven by his friend clipped the curb and flipped over.

Now his mother Rachel Docherty, who spent what would have been her son’s 18th birthday at his graveside, is supporting Road Safety GB North East’s seasonal campaign to reduce road casualties.

The campaign urges people to leave their car keys at home if going out drinking and plan lifts home.

James was a passenger in a BMW driven by Tyrone Quinn which lost control near the Redheugh Bridge in Gateshead and landed on its roof. The teenager suffered massive head injuries and died at the scene.

His 33-year-old mother, from Felling, in Gateshead, said: “I will never forget the moment the police knocked on the door to tell me James had died – life changed at that moment.

“I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t want to accept it was true.”

The mother-of-five added: “James looked lovely before he went out that night, all dressed up, and I remember feeling really proud. Now I just feel pain.

“If you are thinking of drinking or taking drugs and then getting behind the wheel of a car – think again. You may have done it before and been fine, but it only takes once.

“No mother should have to bury their child. James should have turned 18 in September, but instead of celebrating we visited the cemetery. It’s been devastating.”

The charity’s Christmas drink and drug driving campaign was launched today at Newcastle College, backed by police and fire crews.

She added: “James was 17 and had his whole life ahead of him.

“His baby brother Thomas was just three months old and will never know him. That is so sad. He did not need to die that day.

“I don’t think I will ever be able to accept that he won’t walk through the door again.”

Quinn, 20, also of Felling, Gateshead, was jailed for six years after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving while disqualified, causing death by driving while uninsured, driving with excess alcohol and being over the limit for drugs.

The court heard when he smashed the powerful BMW he had been drinking alcohol and was more than three times over the drug drive limit for cocaine.