THIS is the shocking moment a drink-driver bragged about being “smashed” in a video filmed minutes before he killed a woman in a horror crash.
Anton Hull, 21, was jailed for six years and received a nine-year driving disqualification after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.
A court heard he had downed lager and rum at a pub before getting behind the wheel of his Ford Transit van on August 18 last year.
In a video, he is heard slurring his words and laughing about how he was “f****** smashed” as he drove near Wincanton, Somerset.
Moments later he smashed into Sarah Baker, 29, who was travelling in a Volkswagen in the opposite direction.
Despite attempts to save her, she died at the scene.
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A passerby called 999 and said Hull was slurring his words, while another witness said he “stank of booze”.
When officers spoke with staff in the pub where Hull had been drinking, they said he was so drunk they refused to serve him.
People in the pub said he left at around 10.30pm and had been urged to leave his van in the car park.
While being treated for his injuries in hospital, a blood sample was taken and Hull was estimated to be one-and-a-half to two times over the legal drink drive limit.
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Sentencing Hull at Taunton Crown Court on Friday Judge Edward Burgess said: “Your dangerous driving killed Sarah Baker, having made a selfish decision to drive despite warnings, knowing full well you were too drunk to do so.
“Your driving was significantly impaired, and you used your phone to record yourself driving in an intoxicated state.
“Words cannot do justice to the enormity and needless tragedy of this incident.
“You have no one to blame but yourself for your injuries.”
Family’s tribute
In a poignant tribute to Sarah, her family said after the hearing: “The loss of Sarah has left a gaping hole in our hearts.
“Over a year has passed and every single day, we have struggled to know how to carry on without her.
“Sarah was 29 years old, she had just finished a masters degree and in her last days, put in an offer to buy her first home.
“Sarah had spent the last four weeks of her life supporting her sister with her newborn baby and was simply driving to Somerset to have a weekend away.
“She was the most caring, loyal and generous daughter, sister, niece, cousin, friend and most recently aunty anyone could hope to have in their lives.
“The immeasurable pain we feel is so unnecessary when Sarah’s death was entirely preventable.
“The utterly selfish act of one individual has ended her life and ruined those lives around her.”
Collision investigations officer Dai Nicholas, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: “My heart goes out to the family of Sarah Baker.
“She was only 29 years old and had her whole life ahead of her before it was cruelly snatched away in this tragic incident.
“Anton Hull made a conscious decision to drive to the pub. He made a conscious decision to drink lager and rum.
“He then made a catastrophic conscious decision to drive home, when he was clearly unfit to.
“That he filmed himself on his own phone just increased the level of risk even more.
“We are grateful to all the witnesses who helped our investigation so we could piece together the full events of this tragic night and secure this conviction.
“In the next few weeks in the run up to Christmas the public will no doubt hear police, road safety campaigners and countless other people talk about the dangers of drink-driving.
“Cases like this show why we want everybody to be aware of the risks and we make no apology for that.
“But Sarah’s death also shows the devastating impact of drink-driving is not just an issue at Christmas time.
“Sarah’s family have experienced incredible pain and today’s sentence won’t end that.
“We desperately hope though that awareness of what happened to her stops someone in future from getting behind the wheel after drinking alcohol, because doing so can kill.”
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Jonathan Rose
