An Indian-origin man has admitted to killing three teenage boys as they walked to a birthday party while he was driving more than two and a half times over the alcohol limit in London last month. Jaynesh Chudasama appeared at the Old Bailey court in London on Tuesday, where he pleaded guilty to charges of three counts of death by dangerous driving on January 26 evening when the fatal collision occurred near a bus stop at Hayes, West London. The court heard that traces of cannabis had also been found in the 28-year-old’s system.
The London-based car hire worker was travelling at 71 mph on a 60 mph zone when he hit the teenagers, who died instantly. The Metropolitan Police had earlier named the victims of the crash as Harry Rice, 17, and 16-year-olds George Wilkinson and Josh McGuinness. The boys were part of a large group on their way to a friend’s birthday party when they were killed. Chudasama was attempting to overtake another car when he lost control and struck the boys head on, the court heard. The victims were propelled into the air and Chudasama’s Audi spun round.
He and his passenger got out and ran off but were chased by two of the boys from the group, who dragged the driver back to where their friends lay. One of the boys later admitted that he had hit the driver over the head with a bottle to prevent him from getting away. The three victims were walking to a 16th birthday party at a local football club. Judge Wendy Joseph said the loss of life was “appalling”. Chudasama, who faces a maximum of 14 years imprisonment for causing death by dangerous driving, will be sentenced on March 9.
Despite the efforts of paramedics, all three boys were pronounced dead at the scene. Hundreds of people had gathered at the site of the crash a day later to lay floral tributes and held a minute’s silence and released balloons. A friend of the dead boys who narrowly missed being hurt said the accident was like a “blur” Five of us were walking to the party and the next moment three of my friends were dead on the ground. The car lost control,” he said. Photos from the scene showed the smashed wreckage of a car, including a caved-in fence.
