A man was sentenced to ten years in prison for the death of a 19-year-old woman in a car accident.
Luke Hawkes, 28, was driving a white Ford Transit van at high speed when it ran a red light and collided with two cars on the A38 Taunton Road near Bridgwater, Somerset, on November 8.
Bethany Branson, a passenger in one of the two vehicles, died at the scene.
Hawkes, of Wadham Close, Bridgwater, was heard on police cameras saying: “I’m glad she’s dead, she deserved it.”
Hawkes admitted to causing death through reckless driving and failing to provide a specimen.
He was also given a 12-year and seven-month driving ban.
Paying tribute to their “big-hearted” and “compassionate” daughter after the sentencing, Ms Branson’s parents, Amy and Ben Branson, said “no sentence length will change Bethany’s future or make our own future okay”.
Hawkes had been involved in another road traffic collision earlier that evening, near the Showground Roundabout, the court heard.
The court heard that he drove away from the scene before colliding with Ms Branson’s car.
Three more people were injured, including Hawkes.
Hawkes also refused to take a roadside drug and alcohol test, according to the court.
Body cameras worn by Avon and Somerset Police officers captured Hawkes saying: “I hope I killed someone. Oh well, I’ll get three, four, or five years. Hopefully, I killed them.”
Sentencing him on 27 January, His Honour Judge Paul Cook said: “You can tell this was a prolonged, consistent and deliberate course of driving. it was obvious that you were drunk.
“You created a sea of carnage and then left. You were then heard saying ‘I’m glad she is dead, she deserved it’, and ‘Hopefully I killed someone’,” he added.
source:nsemwokrom.com
