Boy racer who was already banned from the roads is jailed after leaving friend, 15, dying in crashed car - as heartbroken family pays tribute to victim By ROBERT FOLKER Published: 21:18, 13 December 2024 | Updated: 21:18, 13 December 2024 e-mail View comments A 'cowardly' boy racer who fled and left his 15-year-old friend dying in a crashed car while banned from the roads has been locked up. Billy Conroy was 16 when he lost control of a powerful Mazda 6 in Newcastle and killed back seat passenger Conner Loder before running off from the scene. Paying tribute Conner's mother described her son as her 'life' with his death leaving her family 'broken'.
Conroy, now 17, of Ellesmere Road, Benwell, Newcastle, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and has been jailed for five-and-a-half years. The court heard that Conroy already had serious driving offences on his record, including a police chase at more than 100mph when he was just 15. Even after causing Connor's death, Conroy, of Ellesmere Road, Benwell, Newcastle, who can now be named after a judge granted ChronicleLive's application to lift reporting restrictions banning his identification due to his age, was spotted riding a motorbike despite his driving disqualification.
It was in the early hours of June 10 that Conner was a rear seat passenger in the Mazda 6 which Conroy had bought for £400 two days earlier and which contained five boys at the time. In the build up to the collision, the car had been seen by pol.
