Harrowing footage shows moments before fatal crash

The families of two young men killed in a high-speed crash have released dramatic video of their final moments as a warning to other drivers.

Driver Kyle Careford, 20, and friend Michael Owen, 21, were killed instantly when the red Renault Clio they were driving in slammed into an East Sussex church wall in April before flipping.

Owen, the father of a five-year-old girl, was at the time filming the pair reaching speeds in excess of 150km/h as they sped along country lanes while high on drugs.

The two are heard laughing, chatting and singing as they sped through Rotherfield and on into Jarvis Brook where the accident happened - at nearly three times the speed limit.

The inquest, where the harrowing footage was revealed after it was found on Owen's phone at the crash site, heard how the two friends had both taken a cocktail of prescribed and illegal drugs that "would have resulted in severe toxicity and have had a severely detrimental effect on Kyle's ability to control the car," a police spokeswoman said.

"This was compounded by his inexperience - he did not have a licence and was uninsured to drive the car, which was owned by Michael," she added.

The families of the two have described the pain of the "devastating consequences" felt by all those close to Careford and Owen.

"I really don't know why the boys chose to do what they did, but I blame them both for the decisions they made on this night," Owen's heartbroken mother Kat told the media following an inquest into their deaths.

"If all this stops one person from making the same mistake, then some good has come from showing this video. I'm hoping it will have an impact on young people and make them see that a bit of fun can have such devastating consequences.

"I would like all the young people out there to take notice and realise that you are not invincible and take seriously how precious your lives are to yourselves and others. I want young drivers to consider how much devastation it causes to the families and loved ones that are left behind."

Owen's ex-partner, Lauren Humble, also broke her silence on what it's going to be like raising a child as a single mother because of his death.

"The Michael we saw on that video was not the Michael that we knew who was a loving, caring responsible daddy. The legacy that Michael has left is our beautiful daughter Lily-Rose who is five years old, she will have to live with the impact of this horrific situation forever," she said.

"This video was absolutely heartbreaking to watch but it did give us all of the answers that were needed. I know plenty of people who drive fast and I hope that this video will show people that driving like this can have devastating consequences and how short life can really be."

While Careford's brother, Zac Hemming, denies anyone should ever have to see the harrowing video, he is living in hope it will at least save one life.

"This footage or anything of its kind should never be recorded, let alone watched," he said.

"However, despite the pain of it being broadcast by the media, we as a family just hope and pray that this will connect with at least one person out there, young or old, so that no-one ever has to experience the unthinkable pain of losing someone so close and dearly loved."

Morning news break – October 13