A DRIVER who killed a teenage passenger in a horrific car crash was today jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

Lee Harvey was behind the wheel of a Ford Focus that did not belong to him when it was involved in an accident after a police pursuit in Middlesbrough.

Young passengers in the car shouted for Harvey to stop minutes before the crash which claimed the life of 16-year-old Brandon Morris.

At Teesside Crown Court, details of the incident were made public for the first time Brandon died after a two-car crash on the night of Tuesday March 14 at the junction of Park Vale Road and Park Road North, near Albert Park.

Rachel Masters, prosecuting, said the 16-year-old had been on Maple Street, Middlesbrough, socialising with friends, one of whom had just bought the Ford hatchback.

At some stage, Harvey, who was unknown to the group, got into the driver’s seat and simply took off at speed.

“The defendant got into the driver’s seat of the vehicle,” said Miss Masters referring to numerous witness statements.

She described how Harvey sped away from police along Park Vale Road towards the junction where the tragic crash happened.

She said: “Approaching the junction the defendant accelerated away from the officers at 67mph. This was about 150m away from the final collision point.

“He continued to accelerate all the way through. At no point did the brake lights illuminate.”

Miss Masters said the passengers inside the vehicle were terrified saying: “Inside the defendant’s vehicle it was obvious to the passengers that the defendant was taking off.

“They shouted and screamed for him to stop.

"One told him not to go through the red light. Brandon shouted ‘what’s wrong with you?’”

Miss Masters described how Harvey did not listen to his passengers, did not slow down or brake and, instead, hurtled through the red light at junction of Park Vale Road and Clairville Road.

She said the car narrowly missed a pedestrian before finally, and tragically, it hit a Nissan Qashqai passing through the green lights of Clairville Road.

Harvey, 29, of Lismore Gardens, Thornaby, near Stockton, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, two charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and driving without a licence or insurance.

Andrew Stranex, mitigating, said that Harvey did not dispute any of the facts of the case and had shown genuine remorse since.

He said: “His early pleas are an indication of his remorse right from the start.

“At the point he left the scene, he didn’t understand the seriousness."