FOUR men – including two from Mayfield – convicted of causing death by careless driving in a crash which claimed the lives of three people have been sent to youth custody.

Joseph Gregson and Liam Sowter, both aged 19, and 18-year-olds David Edge and Oliver Beresford, who were part of a five-car convoy travelling along the A52 at the time of the accident, each admitted three counts of the charge.

Sowter, of Mayfield Avenue, Mayfield; and Beresford, of Bellevue Road, Ashbourne, were sentenced at Derby Crown Court to two years and three months.

Edge, of Cockayne Avenue, Ashbourne, and Gregson, of Church Lane, Mayfield, who also admitted making a false statement, were sentenced to two years and nine months at the same hearing.

The court heard that Alice Greenwood died after 18-year-old Andrew Sellers lost control of his Vauxhall Corsa and veered into her mother's oncoming car on the A52 near Kirk Langley.

Andrew and his front seat passenger, Liam Connell, aged 16, were also killed in the crash on October 20 last year.

Alice's six-year-old sister Clara survived the collision but her mother Juliette, the driver of the family's VW Passat, suffered serious leg injuries.

The court heard how the five cars involved in the crash drove from Ashbourne to McDonald's at Markeaton Island in Derby.

They then set off back to the town in what prosecutor Avik Mukherjee described as a "high-speed convoy".

He said: "It was competitive driving between friends who were encouraging each other to drive in a careless manner even though young and inexperienced."

Leading the convoy was Edge, followed by Sowter, Sellers, Gregson, and Beresford.

Mr Mukherjee said: "The Corsa driven by Sellers exited a sweeping, left-hand bend and he was unable to keep control of the car."

The nearside of the car went into the opposite carriageway where it was hit by the car driven by Juliette Greenwood.

She was returning from Alton Towers with her daughters.

Mr Mukherjee said the police investigation found the Greenwoods' car was travelling at about 50mph while Sellers was believed to have been driving "in the high 70s".

The policeman in charge of investigating the fatal crash said it was one of the worst he had been involved in.

Jack Crooks, aged 18, of Booth Drive, Ashbourne; Georgina Spencer, aged 21, of Bradley Pastures, Bradley, and a 17-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, all admitted making a false statement.

Crooks was sentenced to six months, Spencer nine months and the 17-year-old girl was given a six-month detention and training order.

Judge John Gosling said he hoped each of the defendants felt "deeply remorseful" for their role in the crash.

He said: "Every parent dreads a time when their child is old enough to drive unsupported, because even the most responsible and decent of youths not uncommonly alters their behaviour behind the wheel.

"Rarely have so many people in a one court room experienced so much distress.

"Andrew Sellers' parents have to live without their son and know that his driving caused the death of two others.

"If only all 17-year-olds could be confronted with the facts of this case what a lesson that would be.

"None of you have a history of driving offences and all pleaded guilty on the day of the trial.

"I see no reason to distinguish between those of you driving, each drove inconsiderably, egging each other on. The division between careless driving and dangerous driving is sometimes difficult and in my judgement, this was on the cusp."

Alice Greenwood's mother Juliette said: "I'm reassured that justice has been delivered but no sentence will repair the damage that has been done."