Sister bought crash driver 'slow bomb'

The family of the 17-year-old driver killed in yesterday's multiple-fatality car crash had tried to keep him away from fast cars.

Che Orbell's elder sister Melissa Greville said safe driving was a common topic of conversation between the family and Orbell, who lived at home with his mother.

"Mum, every weekend, without fail, would say, 'Be safe, don't speed, don't drink'."

Ms Greville even bought Che his first car in a bid to stop him from speeding.

"I bought him a bomb so it wouldn't go fast ... we didn't want to buy him a car, but he was going to get one anyway, so we thought we'd buy him something that didn't go fast."

Although OChe first turned his nose up at the offer, because the car was an automatic, he accepted it because it was free, she said.

The death of the keen rugby player, and the only boy in the family, has left his three sisters reeling and his mother "devastated".

"There's no other word. [She's] very, very fragile. He was mum's baby. He never stressed, just lived life to have fun. Che's body was expected home last night.

- Herald on Sunday