A YOUNG man who has admitted causing the deaths of two women by dangerous driving was nearly twice the legal alcohol limit and had a trace of the drug ecstasy in his system at the time of the crash.

A YOUNG man who has admitted causing the deaths of two women by dangerous driving was nearly twice the legal alcohol limit and had a trace of the drug ecstasy in his system at the time of the crash.

Scott Nicholls, 20, formerly of West Villa, Woodbridge Road, Ipswich has pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of Emma Harold and Kate Wasyluk when his car collided with them in Foxhall Road on February 21 this year.

Prosecuting at Ipswich Crown Court, Godfried Duah told the court that Nicholls has a number of previous convictions.

In August 2007 he was charged with driving with no insurance and was disqualified from driving for 36 months. This was due to expire in July 2010.

The court heard that on the night of February 20, Nicholls was at a birthday party in Lindbergh Road along with his brother Tom Laws. Tom had a car with him but as he knew he was going to be drinking, gave the keys to someone else to look after. Nicholls managed to get hold of the keys and drove to another property in Bull Road, Ipswich, where he met two girls.

After some insistence, one of them, Bianca Cloud, accompanied him and he headed towards Foxhall Road.

Daniel Moy was driving along Foxhall Road when he noticed a car revving its engine behind him. The car then overtook him on the wrong side of the road at a speed of 50 miles per hour.

Mr Duah said: “Suddenly the vehicle veered across the opposite side of the road and subsequently collided with a garden wall. It is understood the vehicle clipped the kerb of the road, losing control of the car”.

The collision resulted in the instant deaths of Emma and Kate who were walking along the pavement.

Emma's sister, Rebecca, was also with them and was left severely injured. She is continuing to receive treatment at Ipswich Hospital for an open wound and physiotherapy.

The court heard that a blood test taken from Nicholls revealed he had 156 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 micrograms. It was also found that he had a trace of drug MDMA, also known as ecstasy, and heroin in his blood.