SENTENCING STATEMENTS

On sentencing, Lord Harrower said: 

"Jake Loy, you have pled guilty to a charge of causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving, contrary to sections 1 and 1A of the Road Traffic Act 1988.  The collision occurred at around 0015 hours on 16 March 2022, on the A711, south-west of Cargenbridge.  Driving south in a Honda Civic, you lost control exiting a left hand bend and crossed over onto the northbound carriageway, where you collided with a Honda CR-V, being driven in the opposite direction.  The three other occupants of your car: Finlay Johns, Ian Cannon and Tyler Johnston, all died.  They were each aged just 16.  You and the three occupants of the other car – Stephen Jackson, Martin Thomson and Robert Handley - were all seriously injured.  It appears that you have no memory of the collision or the events leading up to it.

The A711 is a single carriageway with one lane in each direction. The speed limit is 60mph.  The lanes are divided by hazard warning centre line markings.  All road markings were clearly visible and in a good state of repair.  At the time of the collision, it was dark and, being in a rural location, the road was unlit. The weather was fine and the road surface dry. 

At the time of the collision, you held a provisional driving licence, but were not being supervised by a suitably qualified driver.  According to the social work report, this was your own car, but you had never previously driven it on a public road.  Not only, therefore, were you an unqualified and inexperienced driver, but you could have had no real familiarity with this particular car or its handling characteristics at speed or under adverse conditions. 

Some of your movements prior to the collision can be reconstructed from messages exchanged among members of a Snapchat group.  You left the Moffat area late in the evening, travelling south with Ian Cannon and Finlay Johns to the motorway services at Johnstonebridge.  You then drove on to Dumfries, where you collected Tyler Johnston. 

Your actual speed at the time of the collision is unknown.  However, in view of the catastrophic damage sustained by the Honda Civic – the collision split it in two, with the front section of the car travelling about 25 metres further down the road - the senior investigator was of the opinion that you must have been going much faster than the CR-V.  According to the driver of the CR-V, supported in this by his passengers, he was sticking to the 60mph limit, or just below it.  Since none of that evidence has been challenged, I conclude that you must have been driving considerably in excess of the speed limit, even without taking account of the prevailing conditions.  Though it is impossible to identify the precise point when it was sent, Ian Cannon posted a message on Snapchat saying that he was scared because you were swerving all over the place, that you were a terrible driver, and that you were flooring it.  I therefore conclude that the dangerous nature of your driving at the time of the collision was consistent with the general nature of your driving that evening. 

Having regard to the Scottish Sentencing Council’s guideline for offences of causing death by dangerous driving, I would assess your driving as “creat[ing] a very significant risk of danger to others”, as well as being at a “grossly excessive speed for the road and the prevailing conditions”.  In terms of the levels of seriousness set out in the guideline, these are factors that would place your driving, at the very least, within Level B.  In addition, however, there is Ian Cannon’s message, the terms of which indicate that your driving at the time of the collision formed part of a more “prolonged and deliberate course of bad or aggressive driving with a disregard for the danger being caused to others”.  This is a factor that, in terms of the guideline, would elevate the level of seriousness to Level A. 

There are also aggravating factors.  The first relates to the consequences of your actions.  Three young lives have been lost.  Three other individuals have sustained very serious injuries.  The victim impact statements I have received all bear witness to the terrible devastation you have caused to the lives of family members and those injured.  No sentence of this court can alleviate their anguish.  The fact that you were driving while not permitted to drive unsupervised is another seriously aggravating factor to be taken into account.  I acknowledge of course that you yourself sustained serious injury, that the deceased were all friends, and that you have shown remorse. 

You were 17 at the time of offence, and are still only 19.  You have no previous convictions.  The social work report prepared in advance of this sentencing diet highlighted concerns raised in psychological assessments carried out when you were between 12 and 17 years old.  It suggested that, at the time of the offence, your behaviour may well have been characterised by impulsivity, recklessness and poor consequential thinking.  I have the advantage also of a forensic psychological report, which confirms that you have a long history of emotional and behavioural problems, but without any diagnosis ever having been made for any specific condition other than immaturity. 

I am bound to take account of the Scottish Sentencing Council’s guideline for sentencing young people.  The guideline states that the court should have regard to the intellectual and emotional maturity of the young person at the time the offence was committed, and that rehabilitation should be a primary consideration.  In the view of the author of the social work report, you present with a very low risk of re-offending, and he notes that all community-based disposals are available.  However, retribution and deterrence are also primary considerations, and in my view there is no appropriate alternative to a substantial custodial sentence, albeit that your sentence requires to be substantially less than would be imposed on an older person being sentenced for the same or a similar offence.  Taking everything into account, the sentence that I would have imposed, were it not for your early plea, would have been 7 years’ detention.  Taking into account the timing of your plea, that sentence will be reduced to 4 years and 8 months, beginning from today. 

In addition, you are disqualified from driving for a period of 5 years and 8 months, which requires to be extended by 2 years’ 4 months, being half the period of detention.  You will therefore be disqualified from driving for a total period of 8 years and until the extended driving test is passed."