TWO men have both been found guilty of causing the horrific death crash which killed three teenage friends.

James Hore

TWO men have both been found guilty of causing the horrific death crash which killed three teenage friends.

Escort driver Christopher Kibble, 18, from Sible Hedingham was in a car being chased by Sakir Olgun, 26.

Kibble lost control of his vehicle near Halstead and crashed, killing his three 15-year-old passengers - Danny Archer, Richard Warren and Christopher Jolley.

Kibble and Olgun both denied causing death by dangerous driving but a jury at Chelmsford Crown Court has found them both guilty.

There were dramatic scenes as the foreman of the jury returned the unanimous verdicts, with the victims' families shouting “yes” while a member of Kibble's family left the court in anger.

Sentencing is to take place next month.

The court had been told how both cars were said to be travelling at “substantial speed” in the moments before the tragic crash at 1am on Sunday, May 6 last year.

The chase had started after the youngsters failed to pay for fast-food which Olgun had delivered to the lake where they were fishing.

The two cars drove along the A131 with the VW Bora hitting the back of Kibble's Ford Escort.

The Ford Escort left the road and hit a tree with such force that it caused the Escort to almost split in two and the youngsters were thrown from the vehicle and killed.

Mr Olgun's VW Bora span for 200 feet across a field and ended up in a ditch.

The court heard Olgun, who ran Halstead Fast Food restaurant, “fled” to London after the crash but turned himself in to police.

He later told police he went to London because he “panicked” but did not know anyone had been killed in the smash.

He had claimed he handed over the £14 of kebabs and was not paid but was called an offensive name by one of the boys as the car drove off “very quickly”.

He claimed he been following Kibble's car to get the number plate details to pass to police and said it was swerving across the road. He admitted in police interview he had tried to overtake the Ford Escort in a “safe place”.

A blood sample was taken from Kibble three hours after the crash and it tested clear of drugs and alcohol.

Kibble, who was just 17 when the crash happened, told police in interview he was not aware of any plan not to pay for the food and he was driving sensibly when he was rammed from behind and forced off the road into a tree.