'Fly high mate': Boy, 14, killed in crash 'never forgotten'

The Courier-Mail can reveal the father of 14-year-old Jacob Hopkins, who was killed in a serious traffic crash north of Brisbane, was last year sent to prison for dangerous-driving-related offences.

Jacob Hopkins, 14, was killed in a two-vehicle crash after a group of teenagers allegedly stole a car. Picture: Facebook

IN A tragic twist, the father of 14-year-old Jacob Hopkins who was killed a serious traffic crash in Rothwell yesterday afternoon, was last year sent to prison for dangerous driving related offences. 

The Courier-Mail can reveal that Peter Hopkins, 40, was sentenced in Brisbane’s Magistrates Court in December of last year for six separate driving related offences, including multiple dangerous driving charges and at least one count of driving with a mid-range alcohol blood reading. 

The father of Jacob and his 16-year-old sister, who was also travelling in the car when it collided with another vehicle before the car wrapped around a pole, will spend a total of 30 months in prison. 

Jacob Hopkins, 14, and his father Peter Hopkins, 40.

Friends of the siblings, Ms Bri Greenland took to Facebook to remember her friends. “Sending my love to you and your family with the loss to your little brother ... Hope use (sic) all recover fast ... RIP fly high gone too soon,” the post read. 

The 14-year-old was remembered as a young life "taken too soon" by friends and family on social media in the hours after his death on Wednesday afternoon.

Police say the boy was a passenger in a suspected stolen vehicle that crashed after running a red light, hitting another car and slamming into a pole at Rothwell,  north of Brisbane.

Jacob died at the scene of the crash which saw all six people in the suspected stolen car trapped in the wreckage.

They were aged between 10 and 16 years.

Photos on Facebook showed Jacob was a member of infamous Redcliffe group, North Side Gang.

Listed under the jobs section on Jacob's Facebook profile, who was thought to be enrolled at the Clontarf Beach State High School, listed his job as self employed at Northside, where his job description said "steal cars and rob ppl (sic)."

Friend Gemma Lee Amarni posted a tribute to her Facebook page saying Jacob was "like second family" and was gone too soon.

Jacob Hopkins, 14, was killed in a two-vehicle crash after a group of teenagers allegedly stole a car.

Another friend Latika Lovell said Jacob was the "strongest" boy she knew.

"Fly in the Dream Time; forever our memories are now stories," she wrote.

"We love you mate we will never forget you."

Jacob Hopkins, 14, was killed in a two-vehicle crash after a group of teenagers allegedly stole a car.

The 26-year-old female driver and four young children in the other car all escaped injury.

-Car accident Rothwell -A person has died and two children have been seriously injured in a crash north of Brisbane that witnesses described as the stuff nightmares are made of, with motorists warned to avoid the area. pIC sUPPLIED

Witnesses at the scene said the wreckage was "horrific" and the stuff "nightmares were made of".

##MUST CREDIT -Car accident Rothwell-A person has died and two children have been seriously injured in a crash north of Brisbane that witnesses described as the stuff nightmares are made of, with motorists warned to avoid the area. CREDIT -Moreton Alert

Officers from the Forensic Crash Unit scoured the scene until it was dark.

Police have laid charges on the driver and one passenger of the Mazda 6 station wagon.

The driver, a 14-year-old Waterford West boy has been charged with one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, unlicensed driving and failing to stop at a red traffic light.

His 10-year-old female passenger, from Kallangur, has been charged with unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

Jacob Hopkins, 14, was killed in a two-vehicle crash after a group of teenagers allegedly stole a car.