A COCAINE-fuelled driver who caused the death of his best friend when he crashed into a tree on a roundabout has been jailed for three years.

Billy Baker, 25, from Basildon, was over the limit for alcohol and cocaine while driving his BMW 3 Series when it crashed at the junction of Broadmayne and Uppermayne, Basildon, on June 20 last year.

Taylor Reid, also known as Taylor Dennard, 22, from Basildon, received serious injuries and died at the scene.

Baker admitted causing death by dangerous driving at Basildon Crown Court. The court heard the crash was the result of a “late decision” to turn while travelling at up to 84mph.

Simon Blackford, prosecuting, said the BMW hit a “ridge” in the road and left the road surface, flying into the air before smashing into a tree on the roundabout.

He said: “The photographs show a mangled wreckage. There is very little occupiable space left.

“Mr Reid died at the scene as a result of the injuries he incurred, mainly a fractured skull.”

Braintree and Witham Times:

Flowers left at the scene of the crash

Baker, of Uppermayne, was taken to Basildon Hospital with a fractured collarbone and an eye injury and spent five days as an inpatient.

Police took blood samples shortly after the crash and found he was slightly over the alcohol limit but twice the limit for cocaine.

Mr Blackford said: “The examiner found that there was a high degree of over-steering and that was the result of a late decision to turn right.

“What the coroner indicates is that the effect of cocaine increases self-confidence and risk-taking.”

Matthew Bone, mitigating, said Baker had no previous convictions and the incident was “out of character”.

He said: “By his decision that night this defendant accepts he has robbed his best friend of his life.

“He will have to live with the guilt of what he did for the rest of his life.”

Judge Samantha Leigh jailed Baker for three years and said he will be disqualified for five-and-a-half years once released.

She said: “It’s clear to me that the combination of the effects of drink and drugs inhibit normal function. Fear is lost and there is a confidence which is not normally there.”