THE mothers of two teenagers who died when a driver racing other cars crashed have spoken out about their heartbreak and hopes that lessons can be learned.

North Yorkshire Police have apologised to the families of Mason Pearson and George Turner, from Thirsk, saying their treatment of the families on the night of the horrific crash "fell short" of what would be expected.

Read more: Police warn people not to fall for this scam after three reports in one day

As part of restorative justice efforts the mothers, Angela Pearson and Sarah Turner, visited the two drivers involved in the fatal crash.

The boys were both passengers in a VW Bora driven by Luke Ridley, who was racing with a car driven by William Corser when the VW crashed into a Ford Focus on the A61, near Carlton Miniott, Thirsk, in March 2018.

The two mothers went to the scene.

Angela was initially told Mason was alive and only later that he had died but she said there was "no real compassion or empathy".

Sarah only realised George was dead after fire crews who had cut into the vehicle to reach the victims threw a blanket over him.

Luke Ridley was sentenced to 11 years after admitting two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and five of causing serious injury.

William Corser was sentenced to 16 months for dangerous driving.

Angela said: "We met with the head of the police and they said mistakes were made.

"It was about the failings and what they can do differently, they are hopefully going to use it in training.

"On the night I was told Mason was still alive, those things stay with you, it’s very hard to accept from our point of view.

"Mason was due to take his driving test the following month.

"Going into the jails through the restorative justice process, it was about us, it did give us a voice, we could tell them this is what you have done to us.

"There wasn’t any real remorse, we never expected it and we didn’t get it.

"William Corser was released after serving four months.

"What we want is if we can make one young person stop and think when they get in the car, nobody can ever imagine the pain, but if they see the pain etched on our faces and see this is what happened we have been through it.

"I would like to go into schools and try and connect with the youngsters, the crucial thing is that it doesn’t happen again.

"We have seen teenagers still racing around the town and they just don’t realise because it hasn’t happened to them.

"For 17 year olds who have just passed their test, they are showing off to their friends and saying 'look how fast I can go' and it’s that split second when it can all go wrong, and their lives are ruined.

"Maybe they should all have black boxes monitoring the driving and the speed."

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said: “We recognise that the way we initially responded to and supported the two families of those who had died in the aftermath of the collision, was below the standard we should have achieved and added to their distress.

"We are very sorry that the level of service we provided fell short, and for any additional distress that was caused, and we would like to thank them for raising this with us so that we can ensure it does not happen again."

 

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated North Yorkshire Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054