Sydney Mum Learns Of Son’s Tragic Car Accident On Facebook

Her son died on Monday night, and she just learned about it on Facebook. Kathy Bellamy of Sydney was "devastated" when she learned on the social media Web site that her son Jesse Smith, 18, was left lying on the road in a pool of blood after a horrific car accident.

"Devastated, can't describe it," she told 7News. "Don't give your kids keys, that's all I can say."

According to the report, Mr Smith was with three of his mates when the blue Holden Commodore that they were riding crashed into a power pole before rolling. Police were called to Marsden Park around 11:10 pm on Monday night after residents reported the incident.

When police arrived, they discovered the teenager lying on a pool of blood on the road, the car on its roof, and the other passengers gone.

His friends were seen "a short distance away," and were taken to Westmead Hospital where they were being treated for minor injuries. They were said to be either fleeing the scene or calling for help.

It wasn't clear who was driving the car, but it was suspected that the teenagers were going for a joyride. Jesse owned the car for only two days before the accident.

"This is a horrific incident which has been caused by irresponsible driving by people yet again," Commander of the Crash Investigation Unit Inspector Steve Blair was quoted by The Daily Telegraph as saying.

"We have to get the message through to people that if you are the driver of a motor vehicle you have to drive responsibly."

Mr Smith's family said on Facebook that their mother only learned of his death after reading a post there. His brother also said that Mr Smith wasn't driving the car at the time of the accident.

Meanwhile, a woman who said she was the girlfriend of one of the men with Mr Smith at the time of the crashed wrote on Facebook that the friends only left the crash scene to get help and not to flee the scene. Also, the accident was apparently caused by a "pot hole on a gravel road and the car flipped."

"[We will conduct] a slow but methodical forensic examination of the vehicle to determine who the driver of the motor vehicle was," Inspector Blair said.