The man driving the car in which 15-year-old Oshea Stowe was travelling when he was killed in 2003 was yesterday sentenced to three years in prison.

Orlando Lee Burch, 24, of Smith?s Avenue in Warwick, was also suspended from driving for five years when he appeared in Supreme Court.

The maximum sentence for causing death by reckless driving is five years.

Burch was at the wheel of the car travelling along Ord Road in Warwick around 5 a.m. on July 29, 2003 when he lost control of the Subaru J-10, smashing into a wall before colliding with a parked trailer.

His passengers where three teenagers: 15-year-old Oshea, a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old. Oshea died, while the other two escaped unscathed.

Burch later failed a breathalyser test.

Burch had been arrested on three previous occasions for driving while impaired as well as speeding.

Crown counsel Shakira Dill told the court yesterday how the teenagers had pleaded with Burch to stop the car which was speeding up to 120 kph (80 mph) moments before the accident.

She said he had been arrested numerous times between 1999 and 2003 for driving while impaired and speeding.

Oshea?s mother, Shawnette Stowe, sat crying in court yesterday as a statement was read on her behalf.

?I have lost part of my heart which will remain empty until the day I die,? it read.

Ms. Stowe said not a day went by that she did not miss her son and felt that she?d been robbed of the opportunity to see him graduate, get married and have children.

She described the loss of her only child as a ?wound that would never heal?.

Puisne Judge, Charles-Etta Simmons said in sentencing Burch, she wanted to send a strong warning to others in Bermuda.

Besides the three years imprison and the suspension of his licence for all motor vehicles for five years, Burch also has to enrol in a substance abuse program, specifically for alcohol abuse and get psychological help for his ?obvious depression?.

Following the sentencing, a crying Ms Stowe was being comforted by a friend outside Supreme Court while less than five feet away Burch?s pregnant wife stood weeping. He also has a two-year-old child.