Liam Beaumont, then 21, Liam Wallis, then 20, and Luke Clarke, 21, were so close they were known as the “Three Musketeers”, York Crown Court heard.
James Lake, prosecuting, said all three spent the evening of December 27, 2021, drinking in two pubs in Cawood.
Then they left with Mr Clarke as passenger in Beaumont’s Renault Clio and Wallis driving a van. CCTV showed the van on the wrong side of the road and the Clio driving too fast and clipping the kerb as they left the village.
Another motorist saw the two vehicles driving too fast for the rainy and misty conditions and too close together as they headed for Sherburn-in-Elmet on the B1222.
Exiting a shallow S-bend, the Clio spun out of control and crashed upside down in a flooded dyke just after the van had overtaken it.
Beaumont and Mr Clarke were trapped underwater and despite the efforts of Wallis, a neighbour and the emergency services, Mr Clarke drowned. Beaumont was rescued.
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