A bereaved mother has united with a driver who crashed, killing her son, to offer the starkest warning of the devastating consequences of getting behind the wheel after drinking alcohol.
Mandie Brown's 22-year-old son, Matthew, died in the crash on the B114, near Croft, in October 2011.
Matthew was a passenger in a car being driven by Michael York, 21, who had been out partying in Leicester with Matthew and two other friends before deciding to drive home.
During the journey, he lost control of the car and ploughed into a tree, killing Matthew instantly. Fellow passenger Samuel Turner, 18, later died of his injuries.
Following the tragedy, Mandie and Michael, both from Sapcote, joined forces with Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service to create a hard-hitting school presentation about the dangers of drink driving.
They delivered it together for the first time today, to 250 students at John Cleveland College, in Hinckley.
Mandie said she was inspired to take part in the project after seeing a video Michael had appeared in from his prison cell, warning other young people about the dangers of drink driving.
"I thought what he had done was incredible," said Mandie.
She added: "Nothing good came out of Matthew and Samuel's death, but if by doing this we can save just one young life, they won't have died completely in vain. That's important to me."
The event, called Cause and Effect, was organised as part of Leicestershire Road Safety Partnership's Fatal4 campaign, which raises awareness of the dangers of driving while not wearing a seatbelt, using a mobile phone, speeding or while under the influence of drink and drugs.
Michael was escorted at the event by prison officers from HM Sudbury, where he is serving the first year of a five-year sentence after pleading guilty at Leicester Crown Court last year of two counts of causing death by careless driving whilst under the influence of alcohol.
He was founded to be more than twice the legal alcohol limit following the crash.
During today's heart-rending presentation, which included CCTV footage of the four pals out together in the hours before the crash, there were gasps and tears from the schoolchildren.
"It was emotional and quite difficult," said Michael. "Seeing the CCTV clips again of the four of us walking through Leicester back to my car was hard to watch.
"At any point we could have said, 'no, let's get a taxi' – but we didn't. I didn't, because I was drunk."
He added: "Without Mandie, the impact of the message would not have been so powerful."
Mandie said: "I have lost my son, and Michael has caused the death of two friends. That's something he will have to live with for the rest of his life.
"But he has shown true remorse by doing something positive.
"I wanted the message to get out of the devastation drink-driving can cause and I hope we're successful."
Pupil Nicole Blower, 17, from Earl Shilton, who is learning to drive, said: "It was very sad, and extremely moving.
"What struck me is, we all have a responsibility for our own safety and those around us, even as passengers."
Members of the emergency services ran interactive workshops on the day and staged a mock rescue from a crashed car involving firefighter Terry Wildgoose, one of the first rescuers at the scene of the fatal crash involving Matthew.
