A young man has been jailed after causing the death of a “gentle giant” in a horror crash two days shy of his nineteenth birthday.
Ethan Entwistle was the passenger in Colby Hammond’s Seat Ibiza when it fatally careered into a tree in Dumpton Park Drive near Broadstairs on October 1 2023.
Canterbury Crown Court heard today how Hammond, 20, of Broadstairs, was on a night out at the nearby Dolphin pub with three friends, Mr Entwistle, Benjamin Brazil and Mason Anderson, before the tragedy unfolded.
It was at around 1.30am when the establishment shut and the group decided to travel two and a half miles in Hammond’s car to Ramsgate to continue their evening.
After parking at Albion Place near the Clique Bar, the group drank until 3am, with Hammond stating he would take a break from alcohol before they left.
With Mr Entwistle in the passenger seat, Hammond then embarked to drive his friends 2.7 miles to Mr Brazil’s home along 30mph roads – a journey Mr Brazil and Mr Anderson maintain they were too drunk to remember entirely.
But readings from a black box attached to the vehicle illustrated that the speed limit was frequently broken.
Furthermore, a back-calculation of Hammond’s blood alcohol suggests he was about double the drink-drive limit.
Such was his speed, Mr Anderson would later tell the authorities he felt “really scared” and shouted “Slow down – we’re going to crash,” as they travelled along Dumpton Park Drive.
Describing how Hammond approached the fatal bend, while travelling north on the 30mph single carriageway at speed, he said: “I have never had to brace for a car crash before, but I could see it happening in front of me – I think I closed my eyes and the crash happened”.
Laying down the facts of the case, prosecutor Sam Barker stressed conditions were clear and the road surface without defects. He said large painted ‘Slow’ signs were visible on approach.
But Hammond lost control with a loud screech before ploughing into a tree, spinning the vehicle and flinging a door open.
His car’s telematics recorded his speed at 75mph on approach, while police investigators say he hit the tree trunk between 61 – 63mph.
“The roof was crushed down so that it compressed the passenger seat,” the prosecutor said.
“The entire front passenger portion of the car was compressed to roughly half of its usual size.
“Additionally, the front passenger airbag had been switched off and so did not deploy.”
The car came to a rest “a distance away”, the prosecutor explained, shedding large amounts of components including the telemetry system, later found in a nearby driveway.
Hammond and Mr Brazil managed to climb out the wreckage, however, Mr Anderson was trapped having sustained serious, if not life-threatening, injuries to his chest and lungs.
Hammond is said to have walked off, laid on a grass verge and said: “I think I’m going to prison now”.
But Mr Brazil dragged Mr Entwistle from the car and performed chest compressions while shouting for Mr Anderson to call 999.
Ring doorbell footage, Mr Barker explained, captured the distressing moments in which Mr Brazil fought to save his friend’s life, adding: “They were not to know that Mr Entwistle was in fact, by then, beyond any help that they could offer him.”
“Dr Olaf Biedrycki, a Home Office pathologist, confirmed, following a post-mortem examination, that the massive blunt-force injuries that Mr Entwistle suffered during the collision would have been unsurvivable.”
Despite an ambulance arriving swiftly and medics battling to resuscitate him for almost an hour, Mr Entwistle’s life was pronounced extinct at 4:36am.
“He was 18, and two days from his 19th birthday,” the prosecutor said.
At the scene, Hammond was being treated by paramedics when Pc Jack Davis arrested him, prompting him to make comments about going to prison, and how disappointed his parents would be in him.
While at the scene, the court heard, Hammond, of Westwood Road, freely admitted that he was the driver and had been drinking.
Speaking with medics, Hammond said he had “one or two” Jagerbombs at the Dolphin and then “one or two” of a drink he could not recall at the bar later on however, when police quizzed him the next day in custody he gave a “no comment” interview.
Ethan’s mum Keena Entwistle told the court in a victim impact statement her son was a “miracle baby”.
“I can honestly say that Ethan would have preferred to have been killed rather than any other person in the car – as was his selfless nature
“Ethan was a gentle giant even at 18 years old he feared his own shadow and the dark.
“He was an innocent introverted boy who showed devotion to his family.
“When he left that night I remember telling him I love him and be good.
“He said ‘I always am, love you Momsie’, those were his last words to me.
“My heart shattered that day and has never healed.
“I should have been celebrating his birthday, instead my beautiful blue-eyed boy was dead on a trolley.
“There was dried blood on his ear, there was a bruise on his shoulder, his nose was broken. “All I wanted to do was hold him, but I couldn’t.
“I’ve not slept for more than a few hours since the crash.
“I’ve not slept on a Saturday night since October 1, 2023, because I fear someone else will die.”
Mr Anderson told the court he was “annoyed” in the moments leading up to the crash because Hammond did not slow down.
“I hope it changes him in a good way, I hope he never gets into a car drunk again,” he added.
Mr Brazil said: “On that night I lost my best friend. It should have been a good night out but it ended in the worst way possible.
“In the moment of the crash, I woke up feeling like what I was experiencing was not real.
“I was in a state of panic and distress and the person who I needed to respond the most didn’t respond.
“I called 999 and I got him out the car, I was in pain, I tried my best to save him.
“While I hoped Ethan would recover, I think I knew deep down that he wouldn’t.
“I’m alive and I’m extremely grateful but it doesn’t take away the guilt that I survived and Ethan did not.”
Jailing Hammond for seven years, Judge James said the victim was “clearly a very special young man – a beloved son, a supportive big brother and a friend to many.”
“His death has broken the hearts of all who knew and loved him.”
Turning to Hammond in the dock, he said: “With three passengers in your vehicle you were driving at speeds well in excess of the speed limit and probably more than twice the legal alcohol limit.
“You drove the wrong way down a one way street and refused to heed the warning of your passengers to slow down.
“His death was caused by your irresponsible, criminal reckless speed, and in particular your deliberate decision to drive while under the influence of alcohol, something you appear to have been in the habit of doing.”
Phillip Hill, mitigating, stressed his client had been on bail for close to two years while the case loomed.
“He has had to deal with the fact that he’s taken someone’s life,” he said.
“He has found that very difficult to deal with.
He always knows that there would be a day of reckoning, knows that he is leaving court through the back door.”
