A British man (19) has been jailed for nine years after he took nitrous oxide while driving and caused an accident in which three of his colleagues died.
The most important thing in brief
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A 19-year-old British man caused a fatal accident by inhaling laughing gas.
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Now he has been convicted of the negligent killing of three young colleagues.
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Thomas Johnson was sentenced to more than nine years in prison.
The case made headlines in Great Britain on June 23, 2024: 19-year-old Thomas Johnson inhaled laughing gas while driving his BMW, lost control of his vehicle and caused a fatal accident.
The force of the impact tore off the roof of the car. Three of Johnson's colleagues in the car suffered “non-survivable injuries” and were pronounced dead at the scene. The deceased are an 18-year-old and two 17-year-olds.
The case is also making headlines because police cell phone footage from inside the car was released shortly before the accident. You could see the boys passing laughing gas containers to the front, laughing. Johnson then inhaled a balloon filled with laughing gas.
According to a report in the Daily Mail, the teenagers were traveling at over 160 km/h on a road where only 48 km/h was allowed. Video footage showed how the car overtook another at this top speed. The police explicitly stated that the vehicle's electronic stability control had been deliberately switched off.
“Permanent reminder that he killed his friends”
The 19-year-old Johnson, who was the only survivor of the accident with serious injuries, had to appear in an Oxford court on Wednesday. The court sentenced the teenager to nine years and four months. He had previously admitted three counts of manslaughter in traffic.
In sentencing today, Judge Emma Nott told Johnson: “Your mistakes as a teenager will mark you forever, but you will also have the chance to rewrite that mark.”
The judge also told Johnson that the disfigurement of his face as a result of the accident would be a “permanent reminder” to himself and others that he killed his friends.
The victims' families call Johnson a “showy teenager” and urge others to “not be the driver who shows such disregard for the lives of his friends.”
Fatal accident on the A2 – also because of laughing gas?
The case in Great Britain is reminiscent of a fatal car accident on the A2 near Arisdorf BL in November 2021. As the Basel public prosecutor's office announced in March of this year, the person who caused the accident, a 20-year-old Swiss, is said to have consumed nitrous oxide several times while driving and therefore caused the accident have.
An 18-year-old car passenger was killed in the self-accident on the night of November 13, 2021. Four other young people – all between 16 and 18 years old at the time – were injured, some of them seriously.
Stawa, a Basel native, had brought charges in the case, including intentional homicide, multiple attempted intentional homicide and multiple, sometimes serious, bodily harm.
It is unclear when the trial will take place at the Baselbieter criminal court. According to the notification, the accused is presumed innocent
