A TEENAGE driver has been jailed after a 16-year-old girl died when he crashed his car "showing-off" on a sharp bend.

Nicholas De Jonge, 18, of Georgian Close, Broadwey, was sentenced to two years at a young offender institution after being found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.

Hayley Powell, of Bradford Peverell, died in October last year when De Jonge's MG Metro careered off a bend on the Old Sherborne Road, near Dorchester, and smashed through a hedge into a field.

Sentencing De Jonge, Recorder Jeremy Gibbons QC, said: "The message from this trial is speed kills.

"The fact of the matter is you were driving too fast, dangerously fast, and you lost control. You were undoubtedly showing-off.

"When will you people learn that girls would be far more impressed by arriving safely at their destination rather than ending up in a ploughed field like poor Hayley?

"Any punishment I impose may be seen by Hayley's parents and others as unequal to the life of that young girl."

Recorder Gibbons added: "However, I have no doubt that you will regret the way you drove and live with the consequences forever - your one wish being to turn the clock back."

Mark Dacey, for De Jonge, described the emotional torment De Jonge had gone through after the accident, saying: "Punishment is a blunt instrument in the context of what Mr De Jonge will have to suffer for the rest of his life."

He said De Jonge had written to the judge, saying: "I feel saddened that I have never been able to speak to Hayley's parents personally to explain to them what happened to their daughter on the final day of her life and to tell them how sorry I really am."

Mr Dacey added: "Mr and Mrs Powell do know more about what happened to Hayley but nothing will bring her back. One young life has been destroyed and her family will never be the same again.

"But to a lesser extent, of course, Mr De Jonge's life has been destroyed. Two young people have been destroyed."

Friends and family of De Jonge, including his grandfather and godfather, had also written letters to the judge, saying the teenager had suffered immensely after the incident.

Mr Dacey said: "Mr De Jonge told me today if he could change places with Hayley he would.

"The punishment of those left behind is sometimes greater."

De Jonge was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. He must serve half that time. He was also disqualified from driving for four years. If he wants to drive again after that, he will have to take an extensive driving test.