Delivery driver who inhaled laughing gas at the wheel and caused the death of 15-year-old passenger after ploughing through a metal barrier is jailed for seven years
A delivery driver who inhaled nitrous oxide from a yellow balloon behind the wheel and caused the death of his 15-year-old ‘cousin’ after plowing through a metal fence was jailed today.
Bonney Barrow suffered horrific injuries when Cameron Hughes, 24, crashed his Mercedes Sprinter into a parapet on an on-ramp of the A56 Accrington bypass and fell to the ground.
Bonney was thrown against the windshield. She was placed on life support at Wythenshawe Hospital, south Manchester, on July 7, where she died the following day.
Hughes used his phone to stream music and access Snapchat just seconds before the fatal crash in Huncoat, Lancashire. Neither was wearing a seat belt.
Today a judge at Preston Crown Court sentenced Hughes, of Haddington Drive, Blackley, north Manchester, to seven and a half years in prison. He described his driving as ‘shocking’ and said a young life had been ‘needlessly wiped away’.
As her grieving mother Sarah Barrow cried as she told how her heart stopped beating the day her ‘beautiful’ daughter did, and all Hughes was asked to do was get Bonney home safely. He took her home to have dinner with her family.
Bonney-Rae Barrow, 15, was killed when a Mercedes Sprinter she was a passenger in plowed into a metal fence and crashed to the ground on a slip road on Accrington’s A56 bypass.
Cameron Hughes, 24, inhaled nitrous oxide from a yellow balloon behind the wheel of his van and used his phone to stream music and access Snapchat just seconds before the crash
Hughes pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.
Sentencing, Judge Heather Lloyd said: ‘This was quite shocking driving and the life of a young 15-year-old was needlessly taken away.
“It’s a miracle no one else was wiped out, including yourself. This was a tragedy waiting to happen.”
During her emotional statement, Ms Barrow told the court Hughes was a family friend who grew up with Bonney and described her as a “cousin.”
On July 7, she recalled how she had trusted Hughes to keep her daughter safe during the short journey home.
But at 7.20pm Hughes left the A56 Accrington bypass at the junction with Burnley Road, in Huncoat.
His Mercedes Sprinter van was traveling between 60mph and 60mph in the 60mph zone and approached the intersection at an ‘inappropriate speed’, the court heard.
Hughes failed to negotiate a left turn and plowed the van into a parapet on a dirt road.
Hughes, of Haddington Drive, Blackley, north Manchester, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for seven and a half years
Sentencing at Preston Crown Court (pictured), Judge Heather Lloyd described Hughes’ driving as ‘shocking’ and said a young person’s life had been ‘needlessly wiped away’.
The van left the bridge and crashed to the ground below, throwing Bonney-Rae into the windshield.
Hughes inhaled nitrous oxide from a yellow balloon before the crash.
Bonney, from Blackley, was taken to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and later transferred to Wythenshawe Hospital, where she died just before midnight on July 8.
Mrs Barrow said: ‘Part of my heart stopped beating the day Bonney’s heart stopped beating.’
She cried as she said she would never see her daughter finish school, enjoy prom, learn to drive or start her own family.
She said Bonney and Hughes had a close bond, full of laughter.
Mrs Barrow added: ‘All he had to do that day was make sure Bonney got home to our safety, but he risked her life with what he did and cost us our beautiful daughter.’