Teen who killed four in M4 crash was released early from prison after joyriding

Christopher Beresford, 18, was let out of jail just six weeks before the accident which brought chaos to the M4.

He was driving the wrong way down the motorway to escape police when he hit James and Bridget Stafford's car head-on.

Beresford and the Staffords were killed in the accident last Monday, in Newport, South Wales. Two of Beresford's passengers, Sam Case, 19, and Lee Maggs, 27, also died.

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Yesterday it emerged that Beresford had been released from Parc Prison, in Bridgend, only last month. He had served six months of a one-year detention and training order - given to persistent or high-risk offenders.

It was imposed by Newport Youth Court in February after Beresford failed to comply with non-custodial sentences. His convictions included dangerous driving and taking a car without consent.

Beresford, who was 17 at the time, did not hold a driving licence and was banned from having a licence for two years.

Young offenders are routinely released at the halfway point of their sentence.

Father Tom Kearney, who will conduct the Staffords' funeral, said the news would heighten the anguish of their relatives.

"Everyone is kind of stunned. I know some of the family very well, they are finding it very difficult to come to terms with," he said.

Mr Stafford, 69, who was retired, and his wife, 70, were driving home to Thornton Heath, near Croydon, after arriving on the night ferry at Fishguard.

The couple, who have four grownup sons, had been visiting family in their native Ireland. But their Volvo 940 was hit head-on at 3.15am.

Police had chased Beresford's uninsured Ford Mondeo at high speeds for five miles after seeing him and his friends acting suspiciously.

They stopped the pursuit on safety grounds when Beresford turned on to the M4 - and towards oncoming traffic.

Monmouthshire Tory MP and special constable David Davies said: "This is another example of where the criminal justice system is failing the public. A couple died, as well as the young men that were killed quite needlessly, because someone was let out of prison before they should have been.

Last week Beresford's mother Teresa Fieldings, 40, said: "Part of me totally blames myself. In my heart I feel I have caused the death of the other people who have died. I can't apologise enough."

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the crash because of the earlier police chase. James Newbury, 18, who was Beresford's third passenger, is being treated for multiple fractures at the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport.