A YOUNG woman was killed in an horrific drink-drive smash as she accompanied a friend caught up in a love triangle.

Laura May had drunk a large quantity of vodka at a party before she left to confront her boyfriend about another woman.

But she lost control of her Renault Clio at Link Top, Malvern, and hit a tree, Worcester Crown Court heard.

Front passenger Joanne Woodward, aged 22, of Madresfield Road, Malvern, died at the scene from multiple injuries.

She had gone with May to provide "moral support", said defence counsel Martin Butterworth.

May, aged 19, of Sandpiper Crescent, Malvern, was sentenced to three years' detention. She pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving when unfit through drink.

Judge John Cavell said she had been at least twice the drink-drive limit and "wholly unfit" to sit behind the wheel.

He said no sentence could bring back the victim and added that May would bear the responsibility for Miss Woodward's death forever - "a punishment in itself".

He also banned the defendant from driving for five years and ordered her to take an extended driving test.

May attended a 21st birthday party on Friday, September 6, last year where the host calculated she drank half a litre of vodka, said Simon Phillips, prosecuting.

She was in a bad mood over her boyfriend which was made worse by phone calls from her boyfriend's mother.

She left at 9.45pm, accompanied by Miss Woodward. But, on the A449 near The Morgan pub, she straddled the road and clipped a taxi, tearing off a wing mirror.

Seconds later, May, who passed her driving test four months earlier, mounted the nearside kerb, skidded across the road and hit a tree on a common.

May suffered a cracked pelvis in the smash and a broken tooth.

She claimed to police she only poured herself three drinks and felt capable of driving.

She could not recall hitting the taxi or the crash.

Mr Phillips said a blood-alcohol test showed a reading of 121 mg nearly three hours after the accident. The legal limit is 80.

But a back calculation by a police expert put May's alcohol level at between 158 and 214.

May felt a deep responsibility for what happened to her friend that night, said Mr Butterworth.