A teenage motorist was branded a coward after leaving an 18-year-old to die in the road.

Gary Whibley fled after crashing a stolen car, leaving passenger Jamie White bleeding by the roadside.

Whibley hung his head in his hands in his first display of emotion as he was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving and aggravated vehicle taking following a three-week trial at Hove Crown Court yesterday.

For the family and friends of 18-year-old Jamie, who was killed in the pile-up in Ditchling Road, Brighton, last November, the verdict brought relief and a sense of justice.

Jamie's grandparents, Marguerite and Ken Stubbs, with whom he lived for the last two years of his life in Lomond Avenue, Brighton, said their feelings towards Whibley were of "anger and contempt".

Mr Stubbs said: "I think it was a just verdict. It's a relief now it is all over and we can put the matter to rest but it is something we can never get over."

Their grandson was killed when he was flung from a stolen Ford Escort driven at speeds of up to 70mph the wrong way up Ditchling Road, Brighton, which crashed into a taxi, two other cars and hit elderly pedestrian Donald Priest.

Jahid Arien, 20, of Woodbourne Avenue, Brighton, and Neil Clarke, 21, of Rotherfield Crescent, Brighton, were also in the stolen car with Whibley and Jamie.

Arien and Clarke were both found guilty of being carried in a stolen vehicle at the court on Friday.

Judge Austin Issard-Davies remanded the three in custody while social reports are prepared.

However, he told the packed courtroom: "It is going to be a prison sentence and a substantial one."