A teenaged driver from Cornwall has admitted causing the death of a passenger who died after his car crashed into a wall in East Devon.

Jacob Gwennap pleaded guilty to causing the death of Vinnie Dennis by dangerous driving in a Ford Fiesta car on the B3178 at Budleigh Hill, East Budleigh, on May 26 last year.

Gwennap, aged 18, of Trevervan Farm, St Buryan, near Penzance, West Cornwall, was remanded in custody by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court.

He was less than eight weeks past his 17th birthday when the accident occurred.

The judge said the delay in bringing the case to court was regrettable and commended Gwennap for taking ‘the mature course’ of pleading guilty and asking to be remanded in custody.

He adjourned sentence until Wednesday October 19 so he can be represented. He did not have a defence barrister because of industrial action by the bar, who are seeking better rates for legal aid work.

Members of Gwennap and Mr Dennis’s family sat in different parts of the public gallery and are expected to return for the sentencing hearing, which will only take place if the Criminal Bar Association strike has ended.

Vinnie Dennis, from Combe Martin, near Ilfracombe was a popular member of the local Young Farmers Club, who accompanied his cortege through Barnstaple in a parade of tractors at his funeral in June last year.

The owner of the garden next to the wall where the accident happened has allowed the family to set up a permanent memorial after a temporary display of floral tributes was removed by another villager.

Police closed the road for several hours and appealed for witnesses after the accident, in which another passenger was injured.