Teen Girl Crushed to Death After Being Thrown from Car in Tragic Incident Involving Drug Driver
A teenage girl, Leonie Jones, 18, was tragically killed after being flung from a faulty passenger door during a dangerous maneuver by a drug-impaired driver. The driver, Mark Coleman, performed a high-speed reverse move known as a J-turn, which resulted in Leonie being thrown from the vehicle and crushed to death in a disused car park.
Coleman, who had previously been warned by police about his reckless driving, was found to have consumed both cannabis and cocaine at the time of the incident. Following the tragedy, he pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving while under the influence of drink and drugs. He has now been sentenced to six years in prison, told The Sun.
Leonie’s mother, Carmel Richards, expressed her heartbreak and anger in a victim impact statement, accusing Coleman of showing no remorse. She revealed her pain, especially after seeing Coleman “living his best life” in Ibiza just two months after her daughter’s death. Richards said, “She’s gone, and I’m brokenhearted. I can never talk to her or hold her. I’m tormented by what she endured. You took her from me.”
Hove Crown Court heard that the incident occurred in the early hours of April 25, 2022, in Crawley. Coleman, 23 at the time, had been drinking and taking drugs when he offered to drive Leonie and a friend home. Despite knowing the passenger door was faulty, he failed to close it properly when Leonie got into the car.
At approximately 2:30 a.m., Coleman made a frantic 999 call, reporting that Leonie was trapped under the car. Fire crews arrived and lifted the vehicle, but tragically, Leonie could not be saved. A post-mortem examination revealed that she died from shock, hemorrhage, and compressive force to the torso.
In addition to his prison sentence, Coleman has been banned from driving for seven years. He will serve half of his sentence before being released. The tragic loss of Leonie Jones has left her family devastated, and the case highlights the dangers of reckless driving under the influence of drugs.