A teenager promised his friend’s dad he would look after her while driving in his car before killing her in a crash.
Edward Spencer, 19, faces jail over the April 2023 smash in which Matilda Seccombe, 16, Harry Purcell, 17, and fellow sixth-former Frank Wormald, 16, died and three others were seriously injured.
Matilda, known as Tilly, told a friend she was worried about Spencer’s driving just hours before the collision which claimed her life, her dad James has revealed.
She had only been getting a lift to and from school with his for a week by the time he lost control of his Ford Fiesta and crashed into a Fiat coming the opposite way on their way home from school in Stretton-on-Fosse, Warwickshire.
Mr Seccombe said he and his wife were still getting to know Tilly’s friends and met some of them, including Spencer, when their daughter invited some of them to their home in Preston on Stour for a party.
Speaking to MailOnline, he said: ‘That was when we agreed to let her go in the car – something we now wish we never had done.
‘I did say to (Spencer) face to face here in our living room to be careful when driving with people in the car and he promised me he would be. Clearly, he didn’t.’
Spencer was warned he faces jail after he pleaded guilty to three counts of causing death by careless driving and three counts of causing serious injury by careless driving.
He will be sentenced at Warwick Crown Court on April 28.
Mr Seccombe and his wife Juliet are part of a campaign calling for ‘graduated’ driving licences for new drivers which would include restrictions such as a six-month ban on carrying younger passengers.
He said: ‘Tilly hadn’t told us that Spencer was driving poorly because she knew that if she had, we would have put a stop to it, and she would have had to go back to using the school bus.
‘But after the incident, a friend gave a statement to police to say that she was worried about Ed’s driving – she had confided this on the afternoon of her death.’
Mr Seccombe also said there were messages on Tilly’s phone which ‘show there was obviously another (driving) incident that she was clearly cross about – to which she got a belligerent response (from Spencer)’.
A court heard Spencer does not remember the crash.
Mrs Seccombe said the keen rugby player ‘hasn’t shown remorse’.
Speaking after the hearing, Inspector Michael Huntley, from the Warwickshire Police Serious Collision Investigation Unit, urged young people and their parents to consider the limitations of being a newly-qualified driver.
He added: ‘Drivers need to be aware of the devastating consequences that can occur if a car is driven carelessly.
‘Edward Spencer had only passed his test five weeks prior to the collision and his careless actions cost the lives of three young people travelling in his car.
‘Driving requires judgment and care, even more so when you lack experience. As this tragic case shows, the consequences of careless driving can be devastating.
‘So many lives have been ruined by this terrible incident. I can’t begin to imagine the pain this has caused, and our thoughts remain with the individuals and families affected.
‘Edward Spencer will live with the consequences of his careless actions for the rest of his life, as will the families of all those involved.’
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