Mourners shocked by teens' 'burn out' tributes

Friends at the funeral of Che Orbell-Pere, one of four teenagers who died in an accident in Hastings last Friday night. Picture / Hawke's Bay Today

Mourners at funerals for two of the Hastings youths killed in Friday's car smash were shocked yesterday as the boys' friends revved their vehicles in tribute, oblivious to the pain they were causing to grieving family members.

As the hearse carrying the coffin of 17-year-old Michael Jeffries pulled away from the Hastings Racecourse, the driver of a vehicle carrying pallbearers pulled a "handbreaky" in the loose gravel in the car park in front of an upset crowd.

An upset woman approached the driver, telling him to stop.

The white souped-up car was embossed with the words: "In Loving Memory of Stephen Temperton, 1987 -- 2005", in reference to another friend who died in a crash just two weeks ago.

A similar incident had occurred earlier in the day at the funeral of 17-year-old Che Orbell-Pere, when Che's close friends - including his girlfriend Ashleigh Harris - climbed into a modified van and revved the engine before following the hearse from Hastings' Sacred Heart Church, out onto Heretaunga Street.

Funerals for Dylan Brittin, 16, and Alex Scales, 15, were to be held today.

The four boys were killed when their turbo-charged Mazda Familia ploughed into a tree on Hastings' Windsor Avenue on Friday night.

None were wearing seatbelts.

Two other boys in the car, Jaydden Brittin, 15, and Ricky Moulder, 16, remain in Hawke's Bay Hospital.

Jaydden is seriously ill but improving, while Ricky is in a stable condition but improving.

Meanwhile, police have revealed one of the boys in the car had his full driver's licence, one had no license and the other four ranged between being on learner and restricted licences.

Investigations are continuing to determine who was driving the vehicle and the boys' movements before the fatal crash.

Hastings Police area commander Inspector Dean Clifford said as well as investigating the crash, police were monitoring driver behaviour around Hastings.

Mr Clifford said he had received lots of feedback from parents saying they were now sitting down to have "meaningful conversations" with their children about speeding.

- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY