Face of driver who crashed Fiesta stolen from Telford area - killing friend - is revealed
This is the face of a dangerous driver who drove a stolen car at motorway speeds before crashing, killing one of his passengers.
Ethan Holness was jailed for seven years and six months and disqualified from driving for five years on Friday for causing the death of 21-year-old James Sheridan by dangerous driving.
The blue Fiesta had been stolen from the Telford area two days before crashing in Pelsall, by which time it was adorned with cloned number plates.
Investigators established Holness had been driving at up to 72mph as he approached the lights on Norton Road, at the junction with Lichfield Road and Wolverhampton Road where the speed limit was 30mph, shortly before midnight on 23 June, 2021.
The then-17-year-old went through those lights as they turned amber but travelling in the opposite direction was a grey VW Golf, being driven at around 60mph by Frederick Rogers.
He also went through the junction despite the lights being on red. Mr Sheridan died at the scene and four others were injured.
Rogers failed a roadside breath test and a further blood sample showed he had 111 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood – the legal limit is 80.
Both men were sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday,
Rogers, aged 34, of of Hospital Lane in Cheslyn Hay, was sentenced to 10 years and disqualified from driving for six years and seven months. He will also have to pass an extended test once the disqualification has ended.
Holness, aged 20, of Dickinson Avenue in Wolverhampton, was sentenced to seven years and six months and disqualified from driving for five years. He will have to pass a extended test once the disqualification has ended. He was also given a concurrent sentence for stealing the Ford Fiesta in Telford.
The mother of Mr Sheridan wrote a letter to sentencing judge Justice Michael Chambers, making a plea for leniency, saying Holness and her son "were childhood friends" and that "young men make mistakes".
Detective Sergeant Julie Lyman, from the West Midlands Police Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: "This was a complex investigation and through forensic work we have pieced together what happened that evening. Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of James.”
