A 21-year-old drink-driver who crashed into a tree on a country lane, killing his best friend, has been jailed for two years.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that David Lelo had drunk about four pints of lager when he was urged by friends to drive to a quiet spot so that they could take cannabis.

But Lelo lost control of his Vauxhall Vectra car on a bend near Queendown nature reserve on Warren Lane, Hartlip, near Rainham, and hit the tree.

Peter Swain, prosecuting, said the door of a rear passenger seat where 20-year-old victim Owen Fowler, known to his friends as Fonzy, was sitting, was ripped off.

The tragedy happened late at night on April 2 last year after Lelo and Mr Fowler, of Glenwood Close, Hempstead, Gillingham, had been drinking with other friends.

Mr Swain said when police officers spoke to Lelo at the scene he was distressed, describing the victim as "my best mate".

A breath test showed that Lelo, of Woodside, Gillingham, was just under twice the legal driving limit. A blood test revealed traces of cannabis.

Judge Michael Lawson, QC, said he could not disregard the level of alcohol but took into account Lelo’s remorse and the fact that he had to live with killing his friend.

Lelo told an officer he was driving at about 45mph on the 60mph road. An accident investigator said it was only safe to take the bend at 25mph because of the width of the road, rather than angle.

Lelo, who admitted causing death by careless driving, said he would normally limit himself to two pints if driving, but added that he drove because others "kept going on and on and on".

Mr Fowler, a roofer who lived with his grandparents, had recently become engaged to Claire Thrower, his girlfriend of seven years. Peter Walmsley, defending, said nothing he could say could reconcile the loss of life.

Lelo, he said, would normally on a Friday night drive his friends to a pub near his home and then abandon his car. But on the night of the crash he was asked, badgered or persuaded to drive to the area where they had been on many occasions to smoke cannabis.

Mr Walmsley said: "Mr Lelo accepts fully he should have known better. It was his responsibility, not theirs, whether he drove or not. He knows perhaps better than anybody that his failure in that responsibility has resulted in the devastating consequences for two families."

Lelo, employed by his stepfather in the building trade, had attended grievance counselling and found it exceptionally difficult to deal with the consequences of what he did.

Mr Walmsley added: "The guilt will live with him forever. It is the ultimate sentence he will have to carry with him for the rest of his life."

Judge Michael Lawson, QC, told Lelo, who was banned from driving for three years: "That night, you destroyed not only his life but that of his family and friends and destroyed your own life and that of family and friends."

He added that the starting point for sentence was three and a half years but he reduced it because of a guilty plea and mitigating factors.