"You were not thinking about anybody else but yourself": He was late for work... and made a terrible decision

A driver late for work killed a man in a 70mph horror smash whilst over the drug and alcohol limit. Labourer Joshua Eldred, 31, was also making calls at the wheel of his car on his mobile phone at the time, a court heard.

Eldred ploughed head-on into an oncoming car at 9.15am after he overtook a van, killing father-of-one Timothy Burgess, 48, who was travelling in the front passenger seat of his girlfriend Wendy Wall's Suzuki Celerio. He suffered fatal injuries in the impact and died at the scene.

Ms Wall, also 48, suffered fractures of the neck, spine, pelvis, thighs and ribs. Her lungs partially collapsed and she suffered a stroke. A court heard she's still being treated in a rehabilitation unit.

Police found Eldred, from Northwich, Cheshire, was on bail at the time after testing 15 times over the drug-drive limit following a hit-and-run crash in his Ford Focus just three weeks before the tragedy. He also had a previous conviction for drug driving and has now been jailed for 12 years. Analysis of his phone showed Eldred had been making or receiving calls at around the time of the collision.

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In a statement read out in court, senior healthcare worker Ms Wall said: ''Our lives have been just utterly destroyed by the reckless action of another person. My world changed forever when the driver took away the man I loved and left me with serious injuries. We had just fallen in love. We had so many plans for our future together, dreams we were just going to build. We were excited about our new life but it was all taken from us in an instant.

"The physical pain is one thing but the emotional trauma is something else entirely. This tragedy has caused so much pain not just to me but to everyone who knew and loved Tim.''

At Chester Crown Court, Eldred, of no fixed abode, admitted causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving. He was also banned from driving for 10 years. The accident on the A533 in Northwich occurred on July 18 this year after Eldred had had slept in after boozing and taking cocaine with friends.

Prosecutor, Frances Willmott, said: ''He had been due in work at 8am, but had not arrived. He spoke to his employer at 9am to say that he was stuck in traffic, but it appears from analysis of his phone that he had just woken up. When driving he was seen on CCTV to narrowly avoid a collision with a parked car and then whist stopped at temporary traffic lights he suddenly jumped forward and then stopped again despite the lights remaining on red. He was later seen weaving towards the centre line.

''When the van reached a 50mph section of road Eldred sped up and went on the wrong side of the road and collided with the car driven by Wendy Wall. Wendy estimated her speed to be 40-50mph and the speedometer on her car was frozen at 43mph. Calculations show that the pre-impact speed of Joshua Eldred’s vehicle was 65-70mph.''

Emergency services had to cut free both victims and Eldred free from the wreckages of their vehicles. Tests showed Eldred had 81 milligrams of alcohol per litre of his blood. The legal limit is 80mg.

He also had a levels of cocaine at 32mg per litre of his blood - the limit being 10mg - and 800mg of the cocaine breakdown product BZE per lite of blood. The limit is 50mg. Ms Wilmott added: ''Examination of Joshua Eldred's vehicle and mobile phone revealed that he was making repeated phone calls around the time of the collision. The car did not have built-in hands-free capability, but a standalone blue tooth transmitter was found."

Mitigating for Eldred, Adam Antoszkiw, said his client's mobile phone was fixed to the dashboard in front of him and wasn't in his hands while he was making phone calls.

Mr Antoszkiw added: ''He is thoroughly aware and alive to the pain and suffering he has caused. Through me he expresses his profound remorse for his actions, moreover for the grief he has undoubtedly caused. He has no recollection of the offence. Essentially he was living in this car, pretending that he did not have a problem with drugs and trying to carry on and sadly we are here because of his actions. He never envisages getting behind the wheel of a car again."

Sentencing Judge Steven Everett told Eldred: ''Now and then I see a case where a drug addict causes a huge danger and has a terrible effect on members of society. In this case here so many people have suffered. There were you, having had some terrible night out, the previous night, drinking too heavily, and taking drugs even though you were supposed to be working.

''Then your employer wondered where you are and in a completely impaired state you make the truly terrible decision to drive the car to get to work. Whilst driving you were impatient and wanted to get past that white van. You were not thinking about anybody else but yourself."