British teen dies in crash after driver hits 100mph on rural roads for Snapchat video stunt

A UK driver has been jailed after a Snapchat 'challenge' led to a deadly accident, killing a teenage passenger and leaving two others injured.

Ricafort Gamboa, 25, was sentenced by Swansea Crown Court after admitting to charges of death and serious injury caused by dangerous driving. The crash occurred after Gamboa attempted to reach speeds of 100mph on Welsh country roads while being filmed on his friends' smartphones using the Snapchat app.

After losing control at high-speeds near Aberystwyth, the car - a Ciroen C3 - veered off the road and crashed into a local cottage, smashing through a 16inch-thick stone wall on the way. 18-year-old passenger Ernest Pideli was killed during the crash.

During the court hearing, prosecutor Paul Hobson explained that Gamboa had been encouraged by his friends, who were on a caravan holiday in west Wales, to drive faster for the social video.

Video footage recovered from the holidaying group's smartphones reportedly showed the start of the accident, with Gamboa shouting expletives after losing control of the car, veering across the A487 and finally into the cottage.

Bolton-resident and Domino's Pizza restaurant shift manager Gamboa was sentenced to four years in jail and banned from driving for five years. In a police interview played in court he said: "I take full responsibility for what happened. My stupid decision to drive so fast was the cause of the collision. I deserve to be punished. I am deeply sorry for what happened."

While Gamboa's defense reasoned that the driver was left guilt stricken by the collision and wished he had died rather than his friend, Judge Keith Thomas was unrelenting in his decision, concluding that the 25-year-old had caused "incalculable loss" to the victim's family.

"You drove at breakneck speed saying you were trying to reach one hundred miles an hour," Thomas said (via Telegraph). "And you ignored signs telling you to slow down and that there were bends ahead. Your friend was only eighteen and had his whole life in front of him."

The incident comes less than a month after a Californian teenager was arrested after allegedly livestreaming her sister's death in a car crash.