text: Jordan Dowson death: Two families torn apart by 'needless' death of Guisborough footballer - Teesside Live
  Jordan Dowson death: Two families torn apart by 'needless' death of Guisborough footballer
  There has been tears throughout Josh Butters' trial ::: He was today convicted of causing the death of 'best friend' Jordan by dangerous driving
  18:37, 12 AUG 2015
  Updated 18:38, 12 AUG 2015
  It was a split second dangerous manoeuvre which tore apart the lives of two families.
  Josh Butters took to the wheel of his Corsa on February 7 last year with his best friend Jordan Dowson in the back seat.
  It was the first time 19-year-old Jordan had seen his friend's car as Butters had only got it days before.
  But that fateful day, a dangerous manoeuvre by Butters, in which he crossed over double white lines in his new motor, resulted in the devastating death of his closest friend.
  Over the last three days in court 2 at Teesside Crown Court those tragic moments have been relived as Butters went on trial accused of causing his friend's death by dangerous driving.
  And today he was convicted of the charge after the jury took an hour and a half to find him guilty.
  It was a trial filled with tears and emotion.
  Jordan's heartbroken family sat through the proceedings with tears falling as they listened to details of his last journey.
  And members of Butters' family were also in the public gallery - also unable to keep in their emotions.
  Before the jury retired to consider its verdict, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton told them: "A life has been needlessly lost and his family has been torn apart.
  "This man now stands before you with this serious charge and his life and his family's has been torn apart by this accident as well."
  The court heard that the two friends had known each other for many years.
  When Butters, from Redcar, was in the witness box during the trial he was asked, "Is it fair to say you were best friends?"
  He replied: "Yeah, he was my best friend".
  He told the sombre court that he had gone on family holidays with Jordan, from Guisborough.
  In the run up to the crash, Butters' driving was described as "relaxed" by his girlfriend Ashley East who was sat in the front passenger seat.
  She was eating at the time and Butters said he thought Jordan, who was sat in the back of the car, was on his phone.
  As Butters went to take the left-hand downhill bend on the Brotton Bypass, he went into the opposite lane, crossing double white lines.
  The prosecution say he was doing a dangerous overtake.
  When the car was in the opposite lane it came face to face with two vehicles. The Corsa first collided head-on with a Volkswagen Sirocco and then hit an Audi A4. The Corsa spun, flipped over and ended up on its roof.
  In the immediate aftermath of the crash, Butters was seen by a witness looking "agitated".
  Michael Ainsley, a driver who stopped at the scene, said he saw Butters sat by a gateway and then lying down in the road.
  Mr Ainsley also said he heard Butters say three or four times: "I am sorry, I am sorry. What have I done?"
  Butters was later arrested for causing the death of his friend by his dangerous driving and was charged in September last year.
  He pleaded not guilty to the charge which led to this week's trial.
  Butters claimed the steering locked and the brakes went hard, resulting in him drifting into the opposite lane.
  But prosecutor Christine Egerton told the jury in the trial she believed Butters would not accept what happened.
  She said: "The reason he is saying there was a problem with the steering lock and the braking went hard is because he can't bring himself to admit what he has done.