In the early hours of 22 October 2011 on the B4114 at Croft in Leicestershire, a young driver, Michael York, returning home from a night out in Leicester crashed his vehicle into a tree whilst driving at excessive speed and under the influence of drink and drugs. Alongside him in his car were three friends. Michael was thrown clear in the crash and suffered serious injuries. Two of his friends, Matthew Brown and Samuel Turner were tragically killed in the crash. In June 2012 a remorseful and tearful Michael was convicted at Leicester Crown Court for causing death by dangerous driving and was given a five year jail term. In a remarkable act of forgiveness, Mandie Brown, the mother of Matthew Brown, hugged Michael in court. The story of remorse and forgiveness may have ended there had it not been for a chance meeting between Paul Speight of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service and the Governor of HM Prison Glen Parva, where Michael was serving his sentence. Having been told that Michael was desperate to do something positive to help him deal with the consequences of his actions, permission was sought from and given by highest level within the prison service for Michael to be filmed from his cell urging others not to make the same mistake.

Both of the families of the young men killed gave their approval for the project and as a consequence, Mandie Brown was also asked to be involved. Mandie was filmed talking about the consequences for her family. This filming produced some hard-hitting and emotional footage for the No More Lives Wasted Roadshow, a road safety presentation given by Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service to Year 11 and 12 pupils across Leicestershire. The story doesn’t end there. Paul Speight wondered whether there was an opportunity to put together an event that had never been done before. His idea was to get Michael and Mandie onto a stage together to be interviewed to reach an even greater audience. A preliminary meeting took place with John Cleveland College Hinckley, where all four men involved in the crash had been pupils. At that meeting Vice-Principal Chris Leeming gave his full support and agreed to host a filmed event in the school hall in front of 280 pupils. The resources that you will find on this site are the results of filming that event along with materials from the No More Lives Wasted Roadshow, brought together here for the first time. This would not have been possible without the cooperation and support of our partner agencies.