AN unlicensed vigilante driver who chased a 15-year-old motorcyclist - then fled and left the boy to die after he smashed into another car - has been jailed for seven years.

Jude Nathan Francis, 26, started tailing Mitchell Chase at speed through Aubin Grove in December 2016 because he mistakenly thought the teen was riding a trail bike that had been stolen from him.

Mitchell was looking over his shoulder at the speeding black Mercedes that was following him when he went through a give-way sign and fatally smashed into another car.

Francis looked at the broken motorbike after the crash to check that it was his, then he drove home when he realised he had been chasing an innocent person.

Supreme Court Justice Bruno Fiannaca jailed Francis for seven years this morning for manslaughter, failing to stop and failing to report the crash.

He said Francis made a choice to act as a vigilante and put Mitchell in danger.

Camera Icon Jude Francis. Credit: Michael Wilson

Justice Fiannaca said Mitchell’s tragic death was caused by Francis’ “senseless and unlawful act of intimidating and pursuing him at speed”.

“Your car was a heavy, dangerous missile, consistently driven by you in his direction,” he said.

“Being on a motorcycle he was vulnerable.

“There can be no doubt that you had stuck fear into him, causing him to drive into the intersection without giving way.

“When people drive in the way that you did, when they intimidate and cause fear in other road users, lives can be lost and other lives are ruined.”

Justice Fiannaca told the court the fact Francis focused on the motorbike after the crash and immediately checked if it was his, rather than helping the critically injured victim, was “callous and shameful”.

Mitchell was taken to hospital after the crash but died the next day with his family by his side.

Francis’ licence was suspended at the time of the chase.

He claims he got into the Mercedes with two friends because the car had not been driven for a while and he wanted to check it for faults.

Francis told police it was not his intention to knock the rider off the motorcycle because he did not want it to get scratched.

He also told officers his two passengers were effectively hitchhikers, but yesterday admitted for the first time that he lied because he did not want to get the pair in trouble.

In her victim impact statement, Mitchell’s mother Denise said her feelings of heartbreak and guilt were unbearable.

She said she feared what Mitchell went through and described her anguish of having to turn off her son’s life support.

Mitchell’s father Wayne wrote about how some of the greatest moments of his life involved his son and said he now lived with a cloud of sadness and depression hanging over him.

Outside court, Mrs Chase said she hoped the sentence would be a deterrent for anyone who was thinking of acting in a similar way in the future.

“At 15 he’s too young to have been taken from us and he had such a bright future ahead and we are just devastated to have lost him but we are happy with the outcome today,” she said.

“We just hope that this is lesson for anybody in the future that thinks of doing anything similar, like how much it hurts us and how much we struggle every day with the loss of Mitch.

“Walking into an empty room or just smelling his clothes to try and feel him or talk to an empty space.

“It’s devastating on the family.”

Defence lawyer Michael Tudori earlier told the court Francis knew jail was inevitable and was hopeful his punishment would bring some comfort to his victim’s family.

The court was told Francis frequently visited the site of the crash and sometimes wept and left flowers.

Justice Fiannaca accepted Francis was remorseful and had insight into what he had done to Mitchell’s family.

Francis will be disqualified from driving for three years after his release from jail.

He will be eligible for parole in five years .