A college friend warned a Shropshire woman who had just passed her driving test to “slow down” before a head-on crash which claimed the life of a 17-year-old student, a court has heard.

The claim was made on day two of the trial of Kirsty Williams, 19, of Baldwin Webb Avenue, Donnington, Telford, at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday. She denies causing the death of Jonathan Humphreys, of Baschurch, by dangerous driving.

He was killed in a collision on Huffley Lane, near Bomere Heath, on January 30 last year.

Jurors heard the crash involved a Vauxhall Corsa, containing four passengers and driven by Williams, and a BMW driven by Cecil Robinson, which contained two passengers.

Williams, who was a student at Walford College at the time, was driving the group, including Jonathan Humphreys, back from lunch at McDonald’s in Shrewsbury.

Asked by the prosecution whether she felt Williams was driving too fast, Daisy Humphreys a backseat passenger in Williams’s car, she said: “I did feel a bit uneasy. We were probably going at about 55 miles per hour. It’s hard to say but it was definitely over 40 mph. I did tell Kirsty to slow down on the way to Shrewsbury because it did feel a bit quick.”

Under cross examination, Miss Humphreys said two more cars, which she recognised from Walford College car park, left McDonalds behind Williams’s car.

“I think that because we knew these cars were behind us there was pressure on Kirsty to go quicker,” she said. “The way we left McDonalds and the looks the lads in the cars had on their faces it was like they were goading Kirsty.

Cecil Robinson, the driver of the other car in the collision, said it did not appear Williams, who is still recovering and uses crutches, was “in control” of her car before the impact.

“I came round the corner and her car was weaving from side to side and was getting nearer to the centre of the road,” he said.

The trial continues.

By Tom Johannsen