A man downed pints of lager and shots in a pub before killing a six-year-old boy and two women in a 90mph car crash.
Joe-Lewis Tyler, 34, has been jailed for 18 years over the collision on 22 February, when he smashed his BMW into a Ford Mondeo taxi in Worcester.
A bartender estimated Tyler had downed around five pints of lager and four Sambuca and Jagermeister shots before getting behind the wheel, Worcester Crown Court heard.
Taxi driver Courtney Hemming had just picked up Leo Painter, six, from school along with Claire Adkins, 39, who was escorting him home, when the BMW smashed into the driver’s side of her car as she pulled out of the school entrance onto a 50mph road.
Both mother-of-one Ms Hemming and mother-of-three Mrs Adkins, who were related, were killed instantly. Leo died shortly after being taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Tyler suffered fractures to his shin and ankle and had to undergo spinal surgery.
A post-collision analysis found he had between 103 and 215mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood – over the legal limit of 80mg per 100ml. He had also previously taken cocaine and cannabis.
The court heard Tyler had been involved in two near-misses in the minutes before the fatal crash.
A driver who saw the BMW before the collision said she feared for her life as the vehicle hit standing water on the road and nearly veered into her.
Tyler, of no fixed address, had previously lost control and “spun” the BMW as he tried to negotiate a turn.
He had borrowed the vehicle from someone else and the temporary insurance had ran out around 90 minutes before the fatal crash.
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Tyler displayed ‘cavalier’ attitude to safety, judge says
Tyler was jailed for 18 years for three counts of causing death by dangerous driving, one count of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and three counts of causing death while uninsured. He initially pleaded not guilty but changed his pleas six weeks before the trial was due to begin.
He was also banned from driving for 17 years and must take an extended retest before he can drive again.
Judge James Burbidge KC said Tyler had displayed a “cavalier” attitude to safety by driving after drinking.
“Both the BMW and Mondeo were in good condition and so the only cause of the collision was your atrocious driving – in other words, how you chose to drive,” he said.
“In your prepared statement to police, you said you believed you were driving normally, but the collision report estimates you were driving about 90mph in a 50mph limit and the car was stuck in sixth gear.”
‘I just wish today’s outcome could bring them back’
In a statement released through West Mercia Police, Ms Hemming’s mother Michelle, said: “Justice has been served but that doesn’t change things for us.
“We will forever miss our beautiful cousin Claire and my daughter Courtney.
“Little Leo will always be looked after by those girls as they loved him, if it wasn’t for him I don’t think either of them would have stayed in their job. I just wish today’s outcome could bring them back.”
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