A TEENAGE county driver who lost control of his vehicle and smashed into trees, badly injuring two passengers, has been sentenced.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be identified due to legal reasons, was carrying three passengers and was driving on the Haddington to Ballencrieff road when the crash occurred earlier this year.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard that the inexperienced driver had attempted “to negotiate a left hand bend and lost control”, at about 8pm on March 3.

Fiscal depute Jade Doig said that the vehicle “left the road and came to rest against trees” and that two of the passengers “suffered bad injuries”, including a broken pelvis and cuts to the face.

Angela Craig, defending, said her young client was “a relatively new driver” and had only passed his driving test earlier this year.

The teenager was said to have gone to the homes of the injured passengers the following day to apologise for his actions.

The court was then told the 17-year-old had two part-time jobs and “the incident has been a huge lesson for him”.

Sheriff Kevin Drummond said: “Clearly you take things seriously and you will learn a lesson on this. This is how a lot of young men die – remember that.”

Sheriff Drummond fined the young driver £300 and placed nine penalty points on his licence.

The driver admitted to driving without due care and attention, failing to negotiate a bend at speed, losing control of the vehicle, leaving the road and colliding with a tree, causing injury to two passengers, on the A6137.