Drunk driver who killed fiance is jailed

A drunk mother who killed her fiance by running him over with her car outside a pub was jailed for three years today.

Caroline Broad, 41, was three and a half times over the legal drink drive limit when she hit Christopher Phillips, 40, who was crushed by the car as it rolled on top of his chest.

The couple, who had been together for eight years, were happy and very much in love before the incident on 17 August last year, Bristol Crown Court heard today.

Broad described Mr Phillips, known as Bobs, as the best thing that ever happened to her and that he was a dedicated father figure to her three daughters and nine-year-old son from two previous relationships.

The couple had been drinking steadily in the Full Moon pub, in Twerton, near Bath, before going out to Broad's car where she got into the driver's seat.

It is believed Mr Phillips, who was heavily drunk, went around to the front of the car where he leant on the bonnet before sliding off to the ground.

The automatic Vauxhall Vectra is then thought to have jumped forward crushing him.

Mr Phillips was taken to hospital but died a few hours later from multiple crush injuries to his chest and abdomen.

Broad was arrested at the scene and found to have 119mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, three and a half times over the legal limit of 35mg.

She told police that she could remember being in the driver's seat and Mr Phillips being on the bonnet and sliding off but could not remember the car moving.

In a statement read to the court today Broad said: "It makes me feel worthless that I have been involved in something so bad to someone that I love so much.

"The pain is indescribable, it feels as if everything has stopped because I cannot take myself away from that terrible evening.

"I see his face falling on the bonnet and hear the thud.

"I hurt myself, my children and all our friends in the worst possible way and I will never be able to forgive myself.

"I have lost the best thing that ever happened to me."

She said she could still not understand how it happened and that it is like "trying to put a jigsaw together which is impossible as there are so many bits missing."

The couple lived in Twerton where they ran Global Tiles, a successful tiling business in the High Street.

Charles Row, mitigating, said Broad had had a troubled past.

He said she had had to flee with her three daughters to a refuge to escape her first partner years ago and her son has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and was dependent on her.

"The constant father figure in his life was Mr Phillips and he has been taken from him, and now his mother will be as well," he said.

"Mr Phillips was the father that the girls never had and he was a real friend to them, they desperately miss him."

Broad, of Padfield Terrace, was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving by a jury yesterday.

Judge Carol Hagen today jailed her for three years and disqualified her from driving for five years.

She told Broad, who sat in the dock sobbing with her hand covering her mouth, that she will serve half of the term.

"Nothing I say will diminish the anguish felt by you over the loss of someone who was so much loved," she said.

"You have had to live with and will continue to live with the consequences and the knowledge that in a drunken moment you were responsible for the death of Mr Phillips."

Speaking outside court, Detective Inspector Andy Gwyther, who led the investigation, said: "Mr Phillips' family came here today to see justice done and get closure.

"The length of time Caroline Broad will spend in jail is immaterial.

"They have gone through 12 months of hell.

"But they would want to stress that two families have been devestated by this.

"Caroline Broad got behind the wheel of a car while three times over the limit.

"The clear message here is if you are drinking, leave your car at home.

"No matter how short a distance the car may travel, tragedy can happen."