Footage showed 19-year-old Thomas Johnson inhaling laughing gas from a balloon before the crash
A driver who was filmed inhaling laughing gas behind the wheel before a high-speed crash has been jailed for killing three teenage friends.
Thomas Johnson was travelling at speeds of up to 100mph before his car hit a tree in the village of Marcham, Oxfordshire, killing passengers Ethan Goddard, Daniel Hancock, both 18, and Elliot Pullen, 17.
Johnson, 19, was jailed for nine years and four months at Oxford Crown Court after pleading guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
The victims’ families called Johnson a “cocky teenage boy” who was showing off and urged others “not to be that driver who shows such disregard for their friends’ lives”.
Thames Valley Police
Teenagers Daniel Hancock, Elliot Pullen, and Ethan Goddard died in the crash
Mr Hancock’s family also begged people not to be “a passenger of such a driver”.
“Please learn from this, an opportunity that the boys were not fortunate enough to be given,” they said.
Mr Goddard’s father, Robert, said: “He’s ruined everyone’s life, he’s taken three, ruined his own life, devastated ours, just for showing off.”
The families of the victims said they had been “sucked into a world of grief, sadness and pain”
Elliot Pullen’s sister, Mia, 20, added: “I know he’s just a cocky teenage boy, I know he’s not an awful person but he made some awful decisions and I really hope that he feels guilty for what he’s done.
“This is his fault, he’s done this, he’s killed them and I hope it stays with him forever.”
His parents, Kate and Giles Pullen, they said they had been “sucked into a world of grief, sadness and pain that we still cannot begin to process”.
They added that Elliot had suffered such significant injuries they were not able to see him.
“As his parents, we feel a physical longing and pain that we never got to hold Elliot and say our goodbyes,” they said.
Thomas Johnson said during his police interview that he could not recall inhaling nitrous oxide while in the car
Johnson had held his licence for less t
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