A man who caused his friend’s death in a fatal collision, and then tried to frame the victim, has today had his sentence increased after the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP, referred it to the Court of Appeal.
Aaron Guest, 28, killed his passenger, Ben Priest, 23, in a car crash by driving too fast and failing to notice a bend in the road. Although Guest was injured, he was able to climb out of the car. He then attempted to mislead police into believing that Mr Priest had been driving the car by moving his body and planting the car keys on him.
At the time of the offence, Guest was under the influence of both alcohol and drugs. He was also already disqualified from driving and subject to a suspended prison sentence for a number of offences, including other driving offences.
Guest was originally sentenced in December 2018 to 5 years and 3 months in prison at Worcester Crown Court. Today, the Court of Appeal has increased his sentence to 7 years.
Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General said:
It was only a matter of time before Guest’s dangerous and irresponsible behaviour caused serious harm. Previous restrictions placed upon Guest endeavoured to prevent this, but he continued to flout the law, leading to the tragic death of his passenger Ben Priest. Guest proceeded to show further contempt for the law by attempting to frame his victim, and I hope that the Court’s decision today brings some comfort to Ben Priest’s family at this difficult time.