Officer jailed after holiday girl died trapped in water-filled car

A police community support officer has been jailed over the death of a London schoolgirl who drowned on an adventure holiday.

Louise Ferreira, 17, from Thamesmead, was on a trip to Wales to celebrate her GCSE exam results when she became trapped in a 4x4 as it was swept away in a swollen river.

Her best friend's uncle, PCSO Brian Johnson, 46, from Belvedere in Kent, was at the wheel and "recklessly" attempted to cross a ford when the water level was at its highest of the year following heavy storms in September 2008.

His Land Rover Discovery was swept downstream and overturned as he drove it through the fast-flowing river at remote beauty spot Llyn Brianne in Powys. Johnson and his niece Charlotte Larner escaped but Louise was trapped underwater.

The PCSO was jailed for two years after he admitted causing death by careless driving.

Merthyr Tydfil crown court heard the accident was "a foreseeable and preventable disaster". Prosecuting counsel Sion ap Mihangel said: "With torrential rain and byways flooded, conditions became extremely hazardous."

Louise, a pupil at Bexley Business Academy, wanted to be a paramedic.Her mother Valerie Allen said after the hearing: "She was and always will be my little angel. She made me so proud, my golden girl."