A QUARRY Bank man who killed a friend when he lost control of his powerful car, ploughing into a garden wall in Netherton, has today (Friday October 28) been jailed for 14 months.

Timothy Pearson, aged 23, was a front seat passenger in the Nissan Skyline that witnesses described as being driven by an "idiot" or "boy racer" before the tragic accident.

Jamie Wharton was behind the wheel of the high performance car and a blood test afterwards revealed he had alcohol and cannabis in his system - Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

However - Sally Hancox, prosecuting, said they could not prove the 31-year-old was over the limit when he hit the wall in St Peters Road, Netherton, at around 9.30pm on June 3 2014.

Wharton, of Birch Coppice, Quarry Bank, admitted causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving and the sentence produced angry shouts of "disgusting" and "there's no justice" from relatives and friends of Mr Pearson as they stormed out of the courtroom.

Judge John Wait said it was clear Wharton drove the car infrequently despite owning the vehicle for 10 years and he lacked the expertise to handle it properly.

He said Wharton had made the deliberate decision to drive too fast on a wet road at a time when he "may have been affected by drink".

The Judge said the actions of Wharton had resulted in the tragic loss of a life - a death that had devastated the family of Mr Pearson.

He also disqualified Wharton from driving for four years and seven months and told him he was satisfied he had been drinking.

Wharton, he went on, either had far more to drink than he admitted the night before the accident or he had downed some alcohol on the day in question.

The Judge said a "combination of deficiencies" led to the crash in which Wharton was also badly injured.

Miss Hancox said a woman driver who saw the Nissan crash sideways into the wall had described the accident as "horrendous".

A number of people raced over to assist but Mr Pearson, from Quarry Bank, suffered multiple injuries and died at the scene.

Wharton was interviewed by police after recovering from his injuries and he told officers he had no recollection of the collision although he was aware the road was wet at the time.

Andrew Jackson, defending, maintained the alcohol and cannabis had not contributed to the tragedy while Wharton acknowledged he had been driving far too fast.

He was driving at a speed that was inappropriate for the conditions, he told the court. 

He is full of remorse for what happened and the mental scars will be with him for the rest of his life.

The court was told the Nissan had been serviced on a regular basis and there were no mechanical defects on the vehicle.

PC Dave Hand, from the West Midlands Police Regional Collision Investigation Unit, said after the case: "Wharton lost control of the car and hit a garden wall, resulting in a needless loss of life.

“Wharton's driving that night was careless and tragically resulted in the death of a young man which could have been avoided. My thoughts are with Mr Pearson’s family."