A teenage girl was today starting seven years behind bars for killing a dad-of-two after stealing his £30,000 sports car.

Monique Dwyer, 19, of Sycamore Grove, Southend, took Franklin King's Mercedes from an A13 petrol station as he clung desperately to the bonnet, an Old Bailey jury heard.

Dwyer shook him off the car, left him for dead and the next day posed for pictures smiling beside the car before selling it for £5,000.

Dad-of-two Mr King, 35, of Thamley, Purfleet, jumped on to his blue Mercedes coupe in an effort to stop Dwyer, but she drove out of the service station near Goresbrook village, Dagenham, East London, with Mr King clinging on for life.

She weaved across three lanes of the A13 and back again before Mr King lost his grip, fell and fractured his skull.

Computer analyst Mr King died two weeks later of his head injuries.

Dwyer, who was 18 at the time of the theft on July 29 last year, pleaded guilty to manslaughter at an earlier hearing and admitted stealing the car.

Judge Giles Forrester ordered her to serve seven years youth detention for the killing and one year at the same time for the theft. She was also banned from driving for five years.

A 15-year-old female accomplice, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was given an 18-month detention and training order by magistrates following her arrest.

Published Wednesday May 26, 2004

Brought to you by the Evening Echo