A teenager has been sentenced to five years in a young offenders institution for causing the death of a 17-year-old by dangerous driving – just one day after he had passed his test.
Josh Atkins died after the car he was travelling in – driven by friend Corey Cooper – crashed into a barrier on a country road in Sheffield in November 2023.
A court heard how Cooper, also 17 at the time, was speeding in the 20mph zone and had failed to notice a warning light about a fault with the car’s brakes.
Cooper admitted causing death by dangerous driving, and seriously injuring a second of his passengers by dangerous driving.
Speaking to Sky News, Josh’s mother, Tracy, said she’ll “never forgive” Cooper for what he’s done.
“I’ve got mixed emotions. I think a lot of people think, ‘why don’t you hate him?’ I feel worse now, having seen the evidence. What he’s done to our family, it’s just destroyed it,” she said.
“It’s just me and Oliva [Josh’s sister] at home – or, it doesn’t feel like a home now. He’s got to pay for what he’s done. He’s just destroyed any family we had.”
Recalling the moment she saw her son on life support, Ms Atkins said: “I don’t think it felt real. I wasn’t expecting to see what I saw when I got to hospital. As soon as I walked in and saw Josh, I knew he’d gone. I knew that was it.”
The impact on Josh’s family was huge – his father, Gavin, suffered a stroke just months after the crash, which the family believe was brought on by stress related to his son’s death.
“It totally destroyed our family. It’s destroyed Gavin. We only get little snippets of the old Gavin. He just wants to be with Josh,” Ms Atkins said.
Ms Atkins and Josh’s aunt, Claire Chapman, are now calling on the government to include extra measures in the upcoming Road Safety Strategy.
These include graduated or ‘phased’ driving licences, which delay full driving privileges for new drivers to help them gain experience under lower-risk conditions.
“He was Josh’s friend. And he had only passed his test the day before the collision,” said Ms Chapman.
“The very, very day he [Cooper] passed his test, he was driving erratically. And in terms of the graduated driving licence, had that been in place, Josh would still be alive now. Why would you not do something that can avoid that tragedy for other families?”
Read more from Sky’s Dan Whitehead:
How frontline workers deal with trauma of young driver deaths
Calls for government to follow Canada’s lead on young driver rules
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While Cooper survived, Josh suffered catastrophic injuries.
His life support was kept on for several days, as his heart, liver and kidneys were to be donated – saving the lives of four other people.
“Because he was going to be an organ donor, they then had to assemble the teams across the country… and it actually gave us longer with Josh,” said Ms Chapman.
“Lots and lots of friends came to see him on life support. The hospital were phenomenal, they never said there was too many people here.”
Ms Atkins said they hope to one day meet those now living with Josh’s organs.
“You tend to forget about that side of it. I have to keep reminding myself. Part of Josh is out there. We’ve heard from all four donors and the one that’s got his heart, he’s got a family where the daughter’s the same age as Josh. So that’s lovely to hear that he’s still with his family because of Josh.”
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She said Josh had “a heart of gold”.
“It’s everywhere we go. I’ve got so many memories, no matter where I go, Josh is there. I miss him so much.”
