Sailor killed his friend in devastating crash

A YOUNG Royal Navy sailor training to become a submariner was killed by his own friend after their car collided with a concrete structure and another car, when going far too fast round a corner on a country lane, a court heard.

- By OLIVIER VERGNAULT

Kyran Carney, 19, was training to become a submariner

Kyran Carney, 19, died following the collision at around 2.30pm on October 7, 2022, on the A374 in Torpoint, as he and his friends, including fellow HMS Raleigh sailor Carl Allan, who was 20 at the time, were coming back from a celebratory birthday lunch at a local pub.

The three wannabe submariners were on their way back to their base where they had been taking exams that day.

A sentencing hearing at Truro Crown Court on Tuesday, September 23, heard how Allan, from Old Laira Road in Plymouth, had been driving too fast for the typical Cornish road he was driving on.

While the 23-year-old pleaded guilty to one charge of causing death by careless driving at the earliest opportunity, he was tried for causing the death of Kyran by dangerous driving.

He was found guilty after a trial of the more serious charge, along with two charges of causing serious injury by careless driving in connection with Peter Bailey and his partner Mary, who had been travelling in a car coming in the opposite direction at the time, and for injuring his passenger James Saint.

The court heard how Allan and Kyran had become friends after joining the Royal Navy. Both were looking forward to serving their country and showed great promise. Kyran had passed out the previous December and was working towards his level 2 submariner qualification.

As His Honour Judge Simon Carr said in his sentencing remarks, the crash three years ago had been a “tragedy in a true sense” and a few seconds devastated the lives of so many.