Driver admits causing deaths of teenagers

A man who was due to face trial has admitted causing the deaths of two teenagers and seriously injuring two others after a car ploughed into a group of people.

Liberty Charris, 16, and Ben Corfield, 19, died after a blue Nissan Skyline hit several pedestrians gathered on the A457 Oldbury Road in Oldbury, at about 23:30 GMT on 20 November 2022.

Dhiya Al Maamoury, 56, changed his plea to guilty at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Monday.

He held his head in his hands as the families of the teenage victims, who were both from Dudley, passed the dock.

Al Maamoury, from Solihull, was facing trial after pleading not guilty in March to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Ms Charris and Mr Corfield, who were friends, died as a result of the crash, with two other teenagers seriously injured in the collision.

Ethan Kilburn suffered a fractured pelvis, foot and right arm while Ebonie Parkes was left with fractured ribs, hips, leg and shoulder and a collapsed lung.

The courtroom was packed with the families and friends of Ms Charris and Mr Corfield, some of whom cried as Al Maamoury, who looked sombre in the dock, listened to proceedings through an Arabic interpreter.

He spoke only to enter his new pleas and to confirm his name.

While the facts of the case were not opened during the brief hearing, defence counsel Balbir Singh said the period of the defendant's dangerous driving was "very limited" as he was "coming out of a roundabout and accelerating" just before the collision.

Judge Michael Chambers KC imposed an interim driving ban on Al Maamoury until he is sentenced on 8 November.

The 56-year-old was granted bail on the same conditions that were previously put in place - that he live and sleep at his home address and surrender his passport.

Judge Chambers said the case "clearly crosses the custody threshold" but praised the defendant's "courage" for pleading guilty.

He said: "You should not be under any illusion over the likely sentence."

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