A WEALTHY couple's teenage son who killed two pedestrians while driving his parents' powerful Audi A5 after smoking drugs walked free from court.

The 17-year-old boy had even been stopped by police just weeks before the tragic crash and had also been at the wheel after taking cannabis.

The youth was awaiting a court appearance when he knocked down and killed two men who were crossing a road to return to a hotel.

On January 30, youth court magistrates rejected an application for the teenager to be publicly named because of the seriousness of his crime and the fact he was only four months away from becoming an adult.

The boy, who lives with his family in a £1m home in affluent Ascot, had admitted a charge of driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit.

He was not accused of any offences in relation to the deaths of pedestrians John Shackley and Jason Imi.

However, the court heard that the youngster had been 'smoking weed' with friends before borrowing his parents' Audi and taking friends out for a drive in nearby Sunninghill.

He struck 61-year-old Mr Shackley and 48-year old Mr Imi with such force as they crossed the road that they were thrown over the top of the Audi and died instantly on impact with the road.

The teenager received a new youth rehabilitation order, which included a supervision requirement of 24 months, a programme requirement with a thinking skills programme of 20 days, an activity requirement for a programme of safe driving

He must also carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and comply with a curfew, lasting for six months.

The teenager was disqualified from driving for 24 months and charged £105 in costs, which his parents said they would pay.

His parents told the court they had hidden the keys to their car at the family home and that Thames Valley Police were investigating the youngster for disqualified driving since the fatal crash on August 2, 2018.

Prosecuting, Sobia Ali, said that the crash happened on the A329 London Road in Sunninghill in the dark.

"The defendant came to a point where he collided with two innocent pedestrians, causing them substantial injuries from which they died."

She read out a statement from one of the defendant's friends, who had been in the back seat of the Audi, and said the defendant had seen the men in his path.

The friend had said: "About six to 10 minutes through our journey, he was driving fine and then he said something about how there were people on the road. From the moment the person said something to the point that there was a bang, was about two seconds," said the prosecutor.

They added: "A window smashed and I knew we were hitting a person. I could see two bodies on the floor curled up, they were behind the car to the left. I went home on foot, I ran, I ran because I was scared, probably scared of my mum finding out to be honest."

Ms Ali also read out a victim impact statement from Sarah Imi, who had been with Jason for almost 22 years.

They were a couple of weeks away from their 18th wedding anniversary and had three children.

She said: "We had so many plans for our future together and I feel that has been stolen from us.

"Why was he driving a car that powerful? It seems like no lessons have been learned."

The prosecutor, who asked the magistrates for a custodial sentence, pointed to the boy's previous history of drug offences and revealed to magistrates that he had five convictions for seven offences between 2013-2018.

The most recent was in June 2018 - just eight weeks before the double tragedy - where police stopped the defendant over concerns about his driving.

Ms Ali added: "Clearly there is a concern in relation to whether this behaviour is being heard. There seems total disregard, the prosecution say."

Defending lawyer, David Todd, said the apportion of blame could not be laid at the feet of the defendant.

Returning to sentence the boy, presiding magistrate Penny Wood said: "We need to tell you that our initial thinking was to sentence you into custody. It can't be right to drive your car and knock down two people, innocent pedestrians and kill them.

"However, there are no charges in relation to the standard of your driving on that day. But we can begin by saying so it can be heard by anyone in the court, that we take this extremely seriously."