Parents want you to see this moment that shows drink-driving is never worth it | UK News

Brave parents of a teen girl who was killed in a car accident have called on everyone to watch the harrowing footage – to try and stop others getting behind the wheel while drunk.

Phoebe Johnson, 17, was a passenger in a Seat Leon being driven by Melissa Keilloh, now 20, who admitted she was ‘100%’ too drunk to drive in October 2021.

The crash, on the A514 near Derby, happened just two weeks before Phoebe’s birthday when Keilloh lost control on a bend after clipping the kerb at 70mph in a 60mph zone.

Phoebe was thrown from the car, and Keilloh screamed ‘I’ve killed Phoebe’ after finding her body by a hedge.

The crash, and her harrowing screams, were caught on her dashcam.

Keilloh has been jailed for three years and disqualified from driving for six-and-a-half years after admitting to causing death by dangerous driving while over the alcohol limit.

Phoebe’s parents, Paul and Nicola, have released the harrowing footage leading up to the crash to try and prevent others from making the same, potentially fatal, mistake.

Nicola said: ‘Life can be taken from you in just a heartbeat. When I did go round [to see her in the hospital] I just held her hand and I didn’t want to leave.

‘It just drains everything from you, everything is just an effort and you wonder how long I have to go through this pain for. It’s had such a massive impact not just on us and our families but friends and the wider community.

‘You don’t realise until you’re actually going through it what impact it has on everything.

‘I’d say to parents never stopping fussing and to youngsters – please listen and please look after yourselves.’

In the footage, Keilloh can be heard being asked ‘Do you feel like you are going to put our lives in danger?’ as they left the house party. Keilloh replied: ‘100%. I’m f****d.’

After they set off, Keilloh can be seen dangerously overtaking cars along dark country lanes while listening to loud dance music.

The disturbing moment she lost control 15 minutes later is then shown capturing the girl’s screams and the screeching of the brakes as Keilloh’s crashes.

Nicola recalled the moment police officers came to their door and rushed the couple to Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre.

She said: ‘It was about 1am, I heard the sirens. It was one of them where I thought, “Did I hear that or was I dreaming?”

‘And then I saw the blue lights coming through the curtains, followed by hammering on the door. I got out of bed and looked out the window, there were torches flashing up at us.

‘They said to me “your daughter has been in an accident and she’s really poorly,” and they got us there very quickly. I knew she must’ve been poorly by how they had come to get us but I still didn’t imagine that would be the outcome.’

Her husband Paul added: ‘It was like a runaway train nobody could get off. But she should have said “I’m not getting in the car”.

‘The driver did say she was still drunk to drive, but she did it anyway. It was stupid, knowing she had been drinking to get in the car.

‘Just don’t get in a car, if the driver has been drinking. Even if they’ve had one.’

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