Crash killer, 15, begs for lenient sentence, blames 'bad childhood'
A 15-year old boy who killed a mother in a horror high-speed crash at the bottom of Adelaide's Southern Expressway has begged for leniency, saying he had a "bad childhood".
The victim's family stared him down in court and labelled him "scum".
Brett Tucker said he had nothing but contempt for the teenager, who caused the horrific death of his soul mate Nicole.
"It's amazing anyone survived. You're still here and my beautiful wife is gone," Tucker said.
"It's wrong, it should have been the other way around, you're nothing but scum."
Mrs Tucker died when a stolen ute driven by the boy at high speed slammed into her car at Bedford Park.
Her vehicle then careered into two other cars and burst into flames.
Kathryn Howard was in one of those cars.
"May the knowledge of what you did disrupt your thoughts and memories every day," Howard said.
The prosecutor said the combination of inexperience behind the wheel and dangerously high speed was an "accident waiting to happen."
Half a second before impact, the car was traveling at 160 km/h.
The youth, who can't be identified, has been found guilty and is facing an adult court because of the seriousness of the crime.
His lawyers pleaded for leniency, saying he had a deprived upbringing and was a foster child before he turned one.
The maximum penalty for dangerous driving causing death is life in jail. The teenager will be sentenced next month.
