A MAN who was jailed for killing a teenager in a high-speed crash has had his prison sentence cut by top judges.
Jonathan Joy, 26, admitted he was to blame for the crash that killed his passenger, 16-year-old Rhys Wilkinson, in July last year.
Joy, of Station Road, Rawcliffe, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for four-and-a-half years at Hull Crown Court in April.
But yesterday, after an appeal by his lawyers, three senior judges in London cut the sentence to four years, saying Joy deserved more credit for his guilty plea.
Rhys's parents Rick and Lianne say no sentence will ever be enough for the loss of their son.
Mr Wilkinson said: "Any sentence is not going to bring Rhys back.
"From our point of view, nothing is ever going to be enough.
"The end result is that he has taken Rhys from us."
Judge Peter Rook QC said, although Joy initially denied the offence, he deserved more credit for finally admitting what he had done.
The Court of Appeal heard Joy had agreed to give Rhys a lift home from work in his Fiat Punto on July 12, last year.
On the A645 Drax link road, near Rawcliffe, he began racing another car, overtaking at speed a van pulling a caravan.
Joy then lost control, sending his car careering across the road and into 40-year-old Richard Suddaby's Ford Focus.
Mr Suddaby and his six-year-old son sustained serious injuries, but Rhys suffered multiple injuries and died.
Afterwards, Joy denied he had been driving in a dangerous manner and only pleaded guilty at a later stage in court proceedings.
Yesterday, his barrister, Jeremy Lindsay, argued it was wrong not to give him the one-third reduction in sentence normally given to those who plead guilty early.
Mr Lindsey said Joy denied what he did initially because he could not remember it and could not believe he would have driven in such a dangerous manner.
Giving judgment, Judge Rook, sitting with Lord Justice McCombe and Mr Justice Spencer, agreed.
He said: "We accept there was no medical evidence to found the view the appellant was suffering from amnesia following the accident.
"However, looking at all the circumstances, we accept the appellant was following the professional judgment of his legal advisers where he may have had little or no recall of critical events.
"We conclude the appellant should have been afforded the full one-third credit for his plea of guilty."
The sentence was cut to four years.
