100mph laughing gas driver jailed for killing friends in Oxfordshire village

A driver who was filmed inhaling laughing gas behind the wheel before a high-speed crash has been jailed for killing three teenage friends, BBC has reported.

Thomas Johnson was travelling at speeds of up to 100mph before his car hit a tree in the village of Marcham, Oxfordshire, killing passengers Ethan Goddard, Daniel Hancock, both 18, and Elliot Pullen, 17.

Johnson, 19, was jailed for nine years and four months at Oxford Crown Court after pleading guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving, BBC reports.

In comments to the British broadcaster, the victims’ families called him a “cocky teenage boy” who was showing off and urged others “not to be that driver who shows such disregard for their friends’ lives”.

Hancock’s family also begged people not to be “a passenger of such a driver”.

Goddard’s father, Robert, said: “He’s ruined everyone’s life, he’s taken three, ruined his own life, devastated ours, just for showing off.”

Elliot Pullen’s sister, Mia, 20, added: “I know he’s just a cocky teenage boy, I know he’s not an awful person but he made some awful decisions and I really hope that he feels guilty for what he’s done,” she told BBC.