Jasmine Herron, 19, was one of two people who died in the crash (Image: FACEBOOK)
A drunk driver who killed his girlfriend and workmate has been served with an eight-year jail sentence.
Jordan Lawrence, 25, drank beer and hard liqeur at a party in Scotland before he got behind the wheel of a car with his girlfriend, Jasmine Herron, 19, and colleague Johnathan Graham, 37.
Lawrence quickly lost control of the vehicle before colliding with a boulder on the banks of Loch Caolisport, Argyll.
His two passengers were thrown from the car, where they died, but instead of informing the police, the digger operator fled the scene.
The trial heard that he was "holed up" at home when authorities discovered the bodies of Miss Herron and Mr Graham, a father of three.
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Lawrence was charged with causing deaths by dangerous driving and attended a trial at Edinburgh Crown Court.
Jurors heard that Lawrence, who was 22 at the time, had arrived at the party, a "get together" celebrating the end of pheasant shooting season at Ormsary Estate, in January 2020 with a pack of Stella Artois.
He proceeded to drink whisky, gin and vodka over the course of the event before driving home.
Witnesses said he left the venue with Ms Herron and Mr Graham while driving fast, with one telling the court their car "zoomed past".
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Johnathan Graham, a father-of-three, was the second victim (Image: FACEBOOK)
Advocate depute Graeme Jessop argued that evidence showed Lawrence had lost control of the vehicle at a point in the road with no obvious hazards and questioned why he "made off from the scene" after the crash.
He suggested the defendant went home and was "trying to avoid detection by the authorities" until "the police found him".
Ormsary gamekeeper James Reid, 40, discovered the vehicle lying on the shore off the B8024 the morning after the event.
He told the court he recognised the wrecked car, which was "well down the beach, facing out to sea", as Lawrence's, and discovered his colleague Mr Graham, who lived at the gamekeeper's cottage with his family, dead.
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He rushed home to contact emergency services before returning to the scene with his partner, Lisa McShane, who then found Miss Herron's body.
At the time, she said the couple feared he was "lying dead somewhere as well", but they were later informed by police that he was found alive.
Lawrence denied causing the deaths by dangerous driving in court, but he was found guilty by jurors and sentenced to eight years behind bars by presiding Judge Lord Beckett.
Lord Beckett said there was "no sentence" he could pass that "matches the value of the two lives that have been lost", as he sentenced Lawrence, who has also been banned from driving for 12 years.
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