A YOUTH killed a newly married Oldbury man while behind the wheel of his mother's car after smoking cannabis.

Telecoms engineer Matthew Harding suffered head injuries and Danielle - his wife of just 10 days - had to make the "heart breaking" decision to turn off his life support machine after being told by doctor's there was no hope.

Mr Harding, 27, was working with colleague Jermaine Buchanan when the teenager ploughed into them after losing control of the Citroen Picasso he had been driving at 47mph in a 30mph limit in Coseley.

The actions of the 17-year-old, who ignored warnings from his mother not to take her car, had earlier shocked one witness who told police it appeared he had "not got a clue how to drive."

As he jailed the driver for four-and-a-half-years, Judge James Burbidge QC said it was clear the teenager knew nothing about cars and had made the deliberate decision to ignore the rules with catastrophic consequences.

The judge said: "This was a flagrant disregard of all the rules of the road, you took the car without permission and the inevitable happened."

The teenager, who was 16 at the time of the incident, was disqualified from driving for seven-and-a-half years.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard Mr Harding's family had to make the "harrowing" decision to turn off his life support machine the day after the tragic accident.

Mr Harding was described as a "happy person with an infectious smile and a warm personality."

The judge told the youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons: "You knew you had been told not to drive and you knew your were incapable of driving"

The youth admitted causing the death of Mr Harding and causing serious injury to Mr Buchanan by driving dangerously.

Howard Searle, prosecuting, said the two men had been working together when the Citroen clipped the kerb, mounted the pavement and hit them. Investigators ruled the accident was due to the teenager's grossly excessive speed and his inexperience.

The youth later maintained it had started raining and he had been looking for the windscreen wipers in the seconds before the accident.

Mr Searle said Mr Buchanan suffered two gashes to his head, he lost two teeth, fractured a wrist and damaged an ankle but he had since made a full recovery.

In a victim impact statement Mr Buchanan said had struggled to come to terms with the death of his friend adding that they had changed places as they worked just moments before being hit by the Citroen.

Danielle Harding told police she felt she had found her "match forever" when she met her future husband who she described as "one in a million."

She said he had a heart of gold adding that she had found true love with a man who was her soulmate.

They were inseparable like "two peas in a pod," she went on and their marriage had been the end of a "perfect love story."

Mrs Harding said they had played their wedding song as they made the decision to turn off his life support machine and after his death she had discovered she was pregnant but miscarried the child.

The teenager's barrister, Dean Kershaw, said: "He knows no sentence will ever repair the devastation his offending has caused."

He said the youth was full of remorse and felt disgusted with himself for what happened.

Mr Kershaw said: "This was a loss of control - not a deliberate course of bad driving."

The judge said the teenager because of his age had never held a driving licence and he was "wholly incapable of driving."

It was extremely fortunate that Mr Buchanan had not lost his life, he continued, but he was no longer able to work in the same profession because of the "memories of that day."

He added the teenager clearly was not permitted to drive but he decided to take his mother's car without permission which was something he had done before.

A second teenager, also 17, who was a passenger in the Citroen, has denied a charge of aggravated vehicle taking and he is awaiting trial on a date still to be fixed.