A SPEEDING driver killed his teenage friend when he drove on the wrong side of the road and smashed into an oncoming car.

Ricky Davies was on a three-day drink and drugs bender when he crashed his Ford Focus in Shirenewton last May 8, Cardiff Crown Court was told today, Friday.

His friend and passenger, 18-year-old Dafydd Hughes, described as a "proper joker" who was "always smiling", suffered a "catastrophic" head injury in the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Davies, 30, previously admitted causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, dangerous driving, drink driving with 152 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, driving without insurance and driving without a licence.

Judge Tracey Lloyd Clarke sentenced him to eight years in prison, the maximum sentence possible given Davies' guilty pleas.

The court was told the fatal crash happened one month before the national sentencing guidelines for fatal drink- or drug-driving cases were strengthened, meaning Davies was jailed under the previous laws.

Davies started drinking on Friday, May 6 and “didn’t stop drinking all weekend”, visiting a club and a house party, and also taking cocaine and smoking cannabis, prosecutor Matthew Cobbe said.

At around 7.30am on Sunday, he arrived at Mr Hughes' house with another friend – together they drove to Abertysswg, where Davies bought cans of cider before deciding to go to a dog show in Usk.

Mr Hughes' grandfather, seeing Davies was “blotto”, tried to stop his grandson getting into the car.

After picking up other passengers, Davies drove through country lanes to avoid the police – his licence having been taken away previously for having no insurance.

One of the other passengers later described Davies’ driving as “horrendous”.

After the dog show, Davies, Mr Hughes and another passenger left together.

Mr Cobbe said nobody was wearing seatbelts as Davies drove them along the B4235.

Other drivers recalled Davies’ “aggressive” driving at “excessive speed”.

The defendant was travelling 49-56mph in a 40mph area when his speed carried his car “entirely” into the opposite carriageway at a bend.

He ploughed into an oncoming Peugeot, the occupants of which had seen Davies’ “aggressive expression” and braced themselves for impact.

The “massive” crash caused serious injuries to a couple in the Peugeot and a fatal head injury to Mr Hughes.

Later, in hospital, the “slurring”, injured Davies gave a blood sample which showed he was nearly twice the legal drink-drive limit.

The court was shown dashcam footage of Davies’ driving and social media videos of the car’s occupants drinking and joking that morning.

Marian Lewis, defending, said Davies, of Aneurin Terrace, Rhymney, accepted his responsibility for the crash “at a very early stage”.

“His remorse is genuine, his grief is genuine,” she said, also Davies had said: “I wish I’d never gone to the dog show, I wish I never drunk, he was my mate.”