Phillip Gillespie had spent the day working when drink driver Susan Mitchell came to collect him and his colleague from The Top House in Blyth, Northumberland.
But when Mitchell arrived she decided to stay at the bar and spent roughly three hours drinking with the pair as well as Mr Gillespie’s partner, who was also her friend, before the four got in her Ford Focus just after 8pm on December 3, 2021.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that the group were travelling along Cowpen Road in the town on their way to Alnwick, which was around 30 miles away, when they approached queuing traffic at a set of temporary traffic lights.
Provisional licence holder Mitchell failed to stop and ploughed into the back of a stationary car at roughly 40-50mph, which caused that driver, who suffered serious injuries, to crash into the vehicle in front of it.
Mr Gillespie, who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and was sitting directly behind the driver, was propelled forward and effectively “headbutted” the seat in front of him, leaving him unconscious.
He was rushed to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle with catastrophic injuries including a fractured skull but sadly died three days later.
The court was told that the driver of the car Mitchell struck, Anthony Jackson, who was 64, also suffered a brain haemorrhage and a number of broken ribs and has since died of unrelated causes.
Mum-of-three Mitchell fled the scene but was later arrested and a sample of her blood recorded a reading of 240mg of alcohol per 100ml. The legal limit is 80mg.
It is believed she had drank around five to six pints of lager
The 33-year-old, of Roseneath Court, Ashington, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
In an impact statement, Mr Gillespie’s mother Stephanie, also mum to Robert and Phillip’s twin Karl, said: “My life changed forever on the night of the 3rd of December when I received a phone call from a friend of Phillip’s saying he had been
involved in a car accident.
“Phillip was my youngest son. Phillip was the quietest of the three boys.
“He never went out when he was younger, playing on the computer we had at the time playing FIFA and WWE wrestling. He would go everywhere with me including to the local shop.
“Everyone who met Philip loved him especially his eyes and his smile.
“When he and Karl were 18, he was asked if he wanted to do some demolition work out of the area. I was devastated as he was leaving me but I knew I couldn’t stop him.”
The heartbroken mum said she still spoke to her son most nights and that he made new friends who he regularly drank with.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/learner-driver-jailed-more-six-113134728.html
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