Benjamin Hughes drove girlfriend Dominique Wright home after drinking at a pub with friends in Nottingham
A rugby player who killed his girlfriend in a crash after being ‘distracted’ by a kiss was jailed for two years yesterday.
Benjamin Hughes was almost twice the drink-drive limit when his van left the road and crashed into a tree.
Masters degree student Dominique Wright, 23, who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, suffered injuries including a broken neck and died instantly. Hughes, 24, was not badly hurt and was able to climb from the van, telling passers-by he had ‘killed the love of his life’.
Miss Wright, who wasn’t wearing a seat belt, suffered terrible injuries including a broken neck, and was killed instantly.
Hughes, a self-employed plumber, suffered minor injuries and climbed out of the vehicle in shock before telling passers-by he had ‘killed the love of his life’.
He was later arrested and found to have 141 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood at the time of the crash. The legal limit is 80.
The 24-year-old pleaded guilty to causing the death of Miss Wright, 23, by driving carefully while over the prescribed alcohol limit. He was jailed despite an emotional appeal from Miss Wright’s family not to send him to prison.
Judge John Burgess, sentencing, told him: ‘Something happened in the vehicle to distract you. You spoke of a kiss to the police. As a result of such distraction you failed to negotiate a bend; your vehicle left the road, struck a tree, and Dominique suffered fatal injuries.
‘I know you never intended her any harm; quite the opposite. But the courts need to remind the public of the terrible consequences of drink driving, and I have been provided with recent statistics of fatal collisions where drink has played a part.
‘We have to take account of the broader picture. Just as our sentences cannot be entirely determined by the views of people seeking maximum sentences, neither can they be entirely determined by pleas for mercy.’
Miss Wright, who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, suffered terrible injuries including a broken neck, and was killed instantly
The court heard the crash took place on the A612 near Southwell, Nottinghamshire, at around 12.30am on October 30 last year.
David Allan, prosecuting, said Hughes had played for Southwell Rugby Club hours earlier, drinking two pints of beer after the game before picking Miss Wright, of Nettleham, Lincolnshire, up from a train station and visiting two pubs with her, along with another couple.
Mr Allan added the group appeared to have four or five rounds in the first pub, before arriving in the second at around 9.30pm, where they continued drinking.
He said CCTV footage showed the friends buying beer and spirits and engaging in ‘boisterous’ behaviour, with Hughes appearing unsteady on his feet at one stage.
Before leaving, Hughes was seen to ‘drain’ a pint of lager in his hand, and finish a spirit glass Miss Wright was holding.
Mr Allan told the court: ‘Overall, six rounds of alcoholic drinks were purchased in 90 minutes. How many of those the defendant had personally, it is not possible to say.’
The couple, who had been together for two months, left the pub at 11pm, with Hughes later telling police they intended to get the last bus to his house in Lowdham, Nottinghamshire.
However they missed it and, after attempting to call his mother to ask for a lift, Hughes decided to drive.
Before leaving the pub, Hughes was seen to ‘drain’ a pint of lager in his hand, and finish a spirit glass Miss Wright was holding
Mr Allan said the crash happened around 45 minutes later, with Hughes asking a passing motorist for a phone and telling them: ‘I think I have killed my girlfriend.’
Mr Allan added: ‘Passers-by describe him as upset, and saying he believed he had ‘killed the love of his life’, and that he ‘must be dreaming’.
Hughes then walked away from the scene, apparently in a state of shock, telling a motorcyclist he ‘needed to die’, before the police arrived and took him away.
Martin Elwick, defending, said Hughes had made a ‘fateful, tragic decision’ to drive, adding: ‘This is a wholly exceptional case. He lost someone who he loved dearly.’
Mr Elwick told the hearing Miss Wright’s parents didn’t want to see him ailed as they saw him as a ‘son’, and an ‘integral part of their grieving process’.
Miss Wright’s father David, 55, also addressed the court, saying the family wanted Hughes to ‘help rebuild our lives’.
However, Judge Burgess said: ‘I am afraid that although their wishes are something I am bound to consider, my job is to look at the whole picture and try to pass a sentence that reflects not only the wrong you have done, but also the harm you have caused.’
Hughes was also banned from driving for four years.
Miss Wright was doing a masters degree in corporate communications at the University of Leeds when she was killed.
She had previously studied English Language at Sheffield Hallam University, before working during a gap year at a clothing boutique in Lincoln.