Teen jailed for friends' deaths

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A teenager whose drink-driving left two friends dead has been jailed for more than two years.

Darren Siteine, 19, was yesterday sentenced to two years and three months' jail for the deaths of Katie Blake, 17, and Liam Tumai, 18, when he appeared in Hamilton District Court.

Siteine had spent most of last October 23 drinking with friends when he, Miss Blake and Mr Tumai decided to go for a drive, the Waikato Times reported.

Siteine lost control and the car rolled before smashing into a power pole, killing Siteine's friends.

Judge Russell Callander said too many people were dying or ending up with head or spinal injuries as a result of drinking and driving.

"I have a responsibility to denounce, discourage and deter against the culture in young people and not-so-young people who drink to get drunk and then the horror that follows," he said.

- NZPA