A TEENAGER who crashed his car at speed killing a close friend has been jailed for two years nine months.

Joseph Banach was out for "a spin" on country lanes in a car without insurance cover when he smashed into a tree and then a telegraph pole.

Nicholas Martin, 19, of Lower Road, Woodchurch, near Ashford, was thrown out of the Honda coupe and died from multiple injuries.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that 20-year-old Banach’s driving was impaired by heavy cannabis use in the weeks before.

A judge told him that he was driving in a way which justified a heavier sentence than would otherwise be the case.

"You sustained serious injury," said Judge Jeremy Carey. "That will serve as a reminder to you for many years, if not for the rest of your life, that you caused the death of another person."

Banach, of Spot Acre, Warehorne, near Ashford, admitted causing death by dangerous driving.