More than three years after a family holiday ended in tragedy, three Essex men are serving time in jail.

Yesterday Julian Harrington, who was driving the car which killed a Cypriot teenager in 2006, condemned the three-year jail terms Luke Atkinson and Michael Binnington are serving abroad.

Mr Harrington, Luke’s uncle, said: “It’s terrible about the boys , it’s an absolute shocker. It’s not all our Government’s fault, the red tape is unbelievable and noone is looking at what happened that night.”

The cousins’ final plea to be allowed to serve their three-year sentences in the UK was refused at the High Court in London last Wednesday.

Yesterday the 24-year-olds took the 5am train from Witham to hand themselves in at Belgravia Police Station, London, at 6.30am.

Mr Harrington told the Witham Times: “It was an accident, it is terrible for them (the family of the Cypriot teenager who died) and it has been for us.”

Mr Harrington maintains hitting the moped, which killed pillion passenger Christos Papiris, 17, was a tragic accident.

He is serving a 15-year jail sentence after admitting manslaughter and causing grievous bodily harm. Lawyers advised him to admit the offences in order to see Luke and Michael released.

Luke and Michael, both 24 and from the Witham area, were back seat passengers in the car.

Mr Harrington, who spoke to the Times from prison on the Isle of Wight, said prosecutors in Cyprus wanted someone to pay for the incident.

“It was one complete farce,” he said.

Read more in the Witham and Braintree Times.