A DRIVER has admitted causing the death of two teenage passengers and causing serious injuries to five more travellers.

George Thomas Turner, of Sowerby, and Mason Pearson, of Thirsk, both 17, were in the back seat of a Volkswagen Bora driven by Luke Ridley, 24, on March 7.

The two teenagers died when the car crashed into a Ford Focus on the A61 at Busby Stoop. Two other passengers aged 18 and 17 were critically injured.

The young family in the Focus - a six-month-old boy and a three-year-old girl and their 27-year-old father and 24-year-old mother - were all taken to hospital and later discharged.

On the day he and another man were due to stand trial, Ridley, of Thirsk, pleaded guilty to two charges of causing death by dangerous driving and five of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

William James Corser, 18, of Thirsk, who drove a car in company with the Bora but was not involved in the crash, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.

Both were disqualified from driving and were released from Teesside Crown Court on bail until July 30 when they will be sentenced and the length of their ban will be decided.

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