Grieving son killed in 89mph car crash just hours after attending dad's funeral
A grieving son was killed in an 89mph crash just hours after attending his father's funeral.
Passenger Dean Heaven was thrown from the car after it spun across the road, demolishing bollards, a lamppost and bus shelter before flipping on to its roof.
His cousin Michael Stock - who was under the influence of alcohol, cannabis and cocaine - had lost control before clipping a line of parked cars.
Dean suffered fatal head injuries and Stock was also badly injured, spending three months in hospital.
They had spent the day at the funeral and wake of Dean's father.
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Stock, who was jailed for two years and eight months yesterday, said he wishes he had been killed and not his second cousin, who he described as like a brother.
Brian Simpson, prosecuting, told the court that the fatal crash happened at 12.40am on May 1, 2021, on Graiglwyd Road in Townhill, Swansea.
Michael Stock was jailed (WALES NEWS SERVICE)He said though there were no witnesses to the incident forensic crash investigators had been able reconstruct what happened from CCTV in the area and physical evidence at the scene.
Swansea Crown Court heard in the moments before the crash, 54-year-old Stock negotiated a slight right-hand bend at high speeds before losing control, reports WalesOnline.
The vehicle began to "yaw" with the rear of the Mercedes clipping a van parked on the nearside of the road and then crossing the carriageway and clipping a car parked on the offside.
The Mercedes span through 180 degrees as it demolished concrete bollards and a lamppost outside a parade of shops on a roundabout.
The crash took place at the junction of Graiglwyd Road and Townhill Road in Swansea (WalesOnline)It also sent the lamppost smashing through the window of a kebab shop - before slamming into a bus shelter and flipping onto its roof.
The court heard 46-year-old Dean was thrown some three metres from the car during the collision, while Stock was left hanging upside down from the seatbelt in the wrecked car.
Police and paramedics were soon on the scene but Dean had suffered serious and unsurvivable head and rib fractures and was pronounced dead at just after 1am.
Stock was taken to hospital with serious head and back injuries and was placed in an induced coma.
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Stock was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court (Western Mail)The court heard blood samples taken from the defendant at 5am on the morning of the crash showed he had 117mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood - the legal limit being 80mg - and was also over the driving limit for cannabis and a metabolite of cocaine.
The judge, Paul Thomas KC, asked what back calculations had been done to determine Stock's blood-alcohol limit at the time of the crash, and was told by the prosecutor that none had been done - the judge descried the lack of a back calculation in the case as "astonishing".
The court heard that an examination of the crashed Mercedes found no mechanical issues which would have led the to crash, and found there was no evidence the passenger seat belt was being worn at the time of the collision.
In his subsequent interview, the defendant said he had no memory of the collision nor of the days leading up to it, and said he and the deceased had grown up on the same street and were "like brothers".
In a family impact statement written by Dean's daughter Jade and read to the court by the prosecutor she said her dad had been her "first love, best friend, and the person who had made m smile" when she was feeling down.
She said losing her father was like being trapped in a recurring nightmare from which it was impossible to wake up, and her dad would not be there for the important milestones in her life like walking her down the aisle.
She said there was "no goodbye... no answers... the only thing we have for certain is loss".
Stock, of Neath, had previously pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
Tim Evans, defending, said his client told him he wished he had been the one who had lost his life.
Mr Evans said the defendant - a former professional driver - had surrendered his licence and "never wants to get behind the wheel again and remember what he did to his beloved friend and cousin Dean".
Judge Paul Thomas KC said the appropriate sentence after trial would have been one of four years in prison - with a one third discount for his guilty plea Stock was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison.
The defendant will serve up to a half of that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
Stock was disqualified from driving for five years with the ban extended by an additional one year and four months to account for the time he will be behind bars.
He will have to pass an extended sentence before he can get a licence.
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