A TEENAGE motorist was yesterday warned he faces jail after he admitted responsibility for the death of a female passenger.

Liam Toye, 18, was driving a Peugeot 306 that went out of control and hit a stone outbuilding outside Sherburn Hospital, near Durham, on June 23, last year.

He was uhurt, but rear-seat passenger Tracey Barnett was thrown from the car and died.

Two other passengers needed hospital treatment.

Miss Barnett, 16, of Gore Hill Estate, Thornley, east Durham, had just left school after she finished her GCSE exams, and was due to start work in a local hairdressing salon.

Villagers have since raised money to have a memorial seat with a plaque in Thornley Cemetery.

Toye, 18, of Shinwell Crescent, Thornley, previously denied causing death by dangerous driving.

A trial was to have begun yesterday, but Toye changed his plea to guilty.

Euan Duff, prosecuting, said: "The Crown cannot accept certain contentions put forward, possibilities raised by the defence.

"The Crown cannot counter some of these, but the impact and the speed at the braking point are accepted, so there are no hugely significant areas of conflict between the prosecution and defence."

Adjourning the case for sentencing on July 13, Judge Beatrice Bolton remanded Toye in custody.

She told him: "You have pleaded guilty to this offence, albeit it at a late stage, but it is a comfort to Tracey's parents that you have admitted what you have done.

"It is a very serious case and, in my view, a custodial sentence is appropriate."

Speaking after the hearing, the officer who led the investigation, PC Mike Baxter, of Durham Police, said: "It's an absolute tragedy for all concerned."

He said he was pleased the change of plea prevented the need for a trial and said that in his view, there were no issues beyond the speed Toye was driving.