Wednesday 21 September 2022 02:50 AM Lachlan McLaren pictured hours before he was killed by ute in Melbourne trends now
A photo of a teen who died on his 16th birthday after a speeding ute rammed into him has emerged showing him hours before his death.
Lachlan McLaren was walking his girlfriend, Ella Mahony, home in August last year when a driver, high on meth, mounted the footpath in Mentone, in Melbourne's south.
The Year 10 Mentone Grammar student pushed Ms Mahony out of the way just in time, but was struck and killed by the out of control car.
The image shows Lachlan McLaren standing in front of purple '16' balloons (pictured) hours before the accident, which his mum said 'shattered her heart into a million pieces'.
The image shows him standing in front of purple '16' balloons hours before the accident, which his mum said 'shattered her heart into a million pieces'.
The driver, Christopher Hennessey, 32, was sentenced on Monday at the Victorian County Court to 16 years in prison with a non-parole period of 11 years.
Hennessey was unlicensed and speeding on the wrong side of the Nepean Highway before the hired vehicle veered onto the path.
Judge Michael Tinney told the court Hennesey was 'death on wheels' and had not slept for days at the time of the accident.
The teen's dad Carey McLaren told Seven News
