Teenager flushed dashcam SD card down toilet after crash which killed pal driving other car

Jack Jones, 21, admitted trying to pervert justice by destroying the recording and lying to police at the scene. The teen received a suspended sentence and was ordered to pay £597

A teenager who panicked after a smash that killed a pal driving another car had flushed his dash-cam SD card down the toilet, a court heard today.

Jack Jones, who had only just turned 19 at the time of the tragedy in October 2022, admitted trying to pervert justice by destroying the recording and lying to police at the scene. The teen, of Min y Don Avenue, Old Colwyn, North Wales, received an eight-month jail term, suspended for a year, and a nine-month overnight curfew.

Prosecutor David Mainstone told Caernarfon Crown Court, sitting at Llandudno: "The dash-cam footage would have greatly assisted the police in establishing what had led to the crash." Finnley Jones, 20, of Penrhyn Bay, Llandudno, died when his black Vauxhall Corsa hit a wall in Conway Road, Llandudno, which was a 40mph dual carriageway at the time.

The prosecutor said he had been doing 60mph and had overtaken the defendant's Corsa before losing control. The pair had just finished their shifts at a shop that evening. Mr Mainstone said Jack Jones, now 21, denied to a doctor, who lived nearby, that they had been racing. The defendant hadn't mentioned that he knew Finnley and claimed he had been overtaken at a "normal" speed by the other Corsa.

When quizzed by police about why his dash-cam was in his glove box, the defendant claimed it had been there for a while and he didn't have an SD card. "The defendant remained adamant there was no SD card," the prosecutor said.

However, police found evidence at his home that a card had been bought with the dash-cam. Jones then accepted the SD card had been flushed away. He hadn't viewed the footage.

Sarah Yates, defending, said: "This is a young man who was very immature at the time he made the decision he did." She added that he had panicked and was "extremely remorseful". Her client hoped to attend university and make something of his life although what happened may have blighted a future career. "He's ashamed of what happened that night," the lawyer added.

Judge Nicola Jones told the defendant: "The full story was contained in that SD card which you have destroyed." However, the judge noted there was genuine remorse. Jones must pay £597 costs.