Speeding motorist was on drugs when he ran over teenage girl

Tragedy: Lillian Groves had stepped into the road to retrieve a football
12 April 2012

A speeding driver has been jailed after admitting he was high on cannabis when he ran over and killed a teenage girl.

Landscape gardener John Page, 35, was driving a borrowed car at up to 43mph in a 30mph area in New Addington, Croydon, on June 26 last year.

Lillian Groves, 14, who was playing in her front garden with her little brother, had stepped into the road to retrieve a ball when Page knocked her over.

Croydon crown court heard how Page had smoked half a cannabis joint and was "showing off" to niece Elizabeth Page and friend Gavin Timms in the car.

Judge Stephen Waller said: "There is no sentence I can pass which is going to reduce the family's pain."

Page admitted causing death by careless driving and driving without insurance. He was jailed for eight months and banned from the roads for two years.

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