A devastated mother has shared poignant memories of visiting her daughter in her pyjamas, as she lay in the chapel of rest – killed by an inebriated motorist, travelling at 104mph, who then fled the scene.
Claire Danks, 44, remembers waiting for Lauren, 22, to return to their home a half hour drive away in Soham, Cambridgeshire, only for her husband, Robert, 46, to tell her: ‘Lauren’s been killed in a car crash.’
Identifying her body later that day at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmonds, Claire said Lauren looked like she was sleeping.
‘Letting go was so very hard,’ she recalled. ‘Sitting with her every day, I’d talk to her, twiddling her beautiful blonde hair and playing her favourite music. I just wanted her to come home, but she never would.’
After two weeks, Lauren’s body was transferred to Soham’s chapel of rest, where Claire would sit all day – only leaving to meet her sons after school.
She continued: ‘Robert and I would return to say goodnight in our pyjamas, once the boys were in bed.’
Placing a single pink rose and a small tea light in Lauren’s hand, before they closed the casket, so she would not be alone in the dark, the night before the funeral, they brought the coffin back to their house.
‘I just wanted the six of us to be together again for one last time,’ said Claire. ‘My heart broke again, watching the boys talking to their sister, in her casket.’
Claire slept on the floor beside her daughter’s coffin.
Lauren Danks, 22, was killed by a drunk driver as she drove home from her first late shift at work on November 10, 2016
![Lauren's heartbroken mother Claire spent two weeks with](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/08/07/471B121400000578-0-image-a-2_1512719881639.jpg)
Lauren’s heartbroken mother Claire spent two weeks with
And, the next day, on December 9, 2016, a horse and carriage carried her coffin to the funeral at St. Andrew’s church in Soham, where ‘Let It Go,’ from Disney’s Frozen – her favourite song – was played.
‘Instead of planning for my daughter’s future wedding, I’d been making arrangements for her funeral,’ said Claire.
Lauren had everything to live for when, on November 10, 2016, she drove home from her first 2-10pm late shift at Center Parcs in Elveden, Norfolk, after being promoted to senior beauty therapist at its spa.
On the night she’s died her father Robert was concerned she was late and went out looking for her when hestumbled on the crash on the A11, discovering that his daughter was the victim and that another driver had fled the scene.
![Drunk motorist Nelson Curtis' Jaguar car pictured after the crash, missing a wheel](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/08/08/471B128900000578-0-image-a-8_1512720025731.jpg)
Drunk motorist Nelson Curtis’ Jaguar car pictured after the crash, missing a wheel
![Lauren's mum visited her daughter in her pyjamas as she lay in the chapel of rest](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/08/08/471B12A100000578-0-image-a-9_1512720057505.jpg)
Lauren’s mum visited her daughter in her pyjamas as she lay in the chapel of rest
Nelson Curtis, 64, from Lakenheath, Suffolk, who had downed 10 pints of beer over nine hours, was subsequently charged with causing death by dangerous driving and failing to stop after, or report a road traffic collision – all of which he admitted when he appeared at Ipswich Crown Court in June 2017.
Jailed for seven years and banned from driving for eight-and-a-half years, the court heard how he had driven his Jaguar car at speeds reaching 134mph on the A11.
Braking, he had slowed down to 104mph when he smashed into Lauren’s Citroen car. Despite losing a wheel in the process, he fled the scene – driving for a further two miles on three wheels.
![Lauren with mum Claire, dad Robert and brothers Kieran, Bobby and Jayden](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/08/08/471B129200000578-0-image-a-10_1512720134667.jpg)
Lauren with mum Claire, dad Robert and brothers Kieran, Bobby and Jayden
‘Our beloved daughter never stood a chance. A car was clearly a lethal weapon in his hands,’ said Claire.
‘It’s a disgustingly light sentence for a man who we then discovered had already served two driving bans, for dangerous and drink driving.
‘His first conviction for dangerous driving and drink driving was back in 1970, when he was fined and banned for two years. His second two-year driving ban came in 2003, when he was again convicted of drink driving.
‘As far as we’re concerned, a car in someone like Curtis’s hands is like a loaded gun.
![The beautician was driving home from her first late shift at the spa at Center Parcs when she was killed](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/08/08/471B126900000578-0-image-a-11_1512720165726.jpg)
The beautician was driving home from her first late shift at the spa at Center Parcs when she was killed
‘We want the Government to take a critical look at the sentences judges are handing out to these reckless drivers. If we can get tougher sentences, as a deterrent to stop this from ever happening again then, maybe, it will help to ease our pain.’
Describing her daughter as her ‘best friend,’ Claire had been to a yoga class with her, followed by coffee, on the day she was killed.
Lauren had also painted her mum’s nails baby pink, as a favour.
Claire, who has three sons, Kieran, 15, Bobby, 11, and Jayden, eight, had then waved her off for her shift.
![On the night she died, Robert became concerned that his daughter was late and went out to look for her](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/08/08/471B126200000578-0-image-a-12_1512720230592.jpg)
On the night she died, Robert became concerned that his daughter was late and went out to look for her
![Lauren had everything to live for when she died on the A11](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/08/08/471B11F900000578-0-image-a-13_1512720255698.jpg)
Lauren had everything to live for when she died on the A11
She said: ‘Hard working and popular, we were always so proud of Lauren. We knew she’d go far.’
Also steadfastly reliable, Robert, who runs a construction business, with Claire’s help, started fretting when it reached 10.45pm and they had not heard from Lauren.
‘I remember Robert saying, ‘It’s not like her not to call,’ Claire said, who, finding her daughter’s line dead, sent her a text, saying, ‘Just seeing you’re ok. Ring me, sweetie.’
Fearing she had run out of petrol, or had a flat tyre, Robert went out to look for her.
![Claire visited her daughter's body in hospital every day for two weeks](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/08/08/471B124E00000578-0-image-m-17_1512720323324.jpg)
![Claire would return to the hospital at night in her pyjamas to say goodnight](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/08/08/471B128200000578-0-image-a-18_1512720328187.jpg)
Claire visited her daughter’s body in hospital every day for two weeks and would return at night in her pyjamas to say goodnight
![Lauren's horse and carriage at her funeral at St. Andrew's church in Soham, where 'Let It Go,' from Disney's Frozen ¿ her favourite song ¿ was played](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/08/08/471B120500000578-0-image-a-19_1512720421414.jpg)
Lauren’s horse and carriage at her funeral at St. Andrew’s church in Soham, where ‘Let It Go,’ from Disney’s Frozen – her favourite song – was played
![Lauren's family are heartbroken that the drunk driver who killed her has been jailed for just seven years](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/08/08/471B122F00000578-0-image-a-20_1512720447733.jpg)
Lauren’s family are heartbroken that the drunk driver who killed her has been jailed for just seven years
After 45 minutes, he phoned home, telling Claire to ask her parents to look after the boys, so she could drive down to the Barton Mills roundabout of the A11, as Lauren had been in a crash.
But, just minutes later, he called again, telling her to stay put, as he was coming home.
Her parents, Vanessa and Terry, arrived from their nearby house and Claire waited at the end of the drive, as a police car drove towards her.
![Lauren, pictured as a child, had just been promoted to senior beauty therapist at the Center Parcs spa in Norfolk](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/08/08/471B121C00000578-0-image-a-21_1512720713991.jpg)
Lauren, pictured as a child, had just been promoted to senior beauty therapist at the Center Parcs spa in Norfolk
![Claire had been to a yoga class with her daughter, followed by coffee, on the day she was killed](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/08/08/471B122800000578-0-image-a-23_1512720791282.jpg)
Claire had been to a yoga class with her daughter, followed by coffee, on the day she was killed
‘When I saw Robert’s face, as he got out of the car and walked towards me, his eyes red raw, my heart was sliced in two,’ she said.
‘Holding my hands tight, he said, ‘Lauren’s been killed in a car crash.’
‘No!’ I howled. ‘Not my Lauren,’ as we both sobbed, uncontrollably.’
The police then told them they were hunting another car, as only Lauren’s vehicle had been found at the scene.
‘I broke the news to Lauren’s brothers that she was dead the next morning,’ Claire continued, adding that the police also called saying they had arrested a man. ‘Seeing their pain made my own heartache even worse.’
![Lauren has been described as popular and hard working by her devastated parents](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/08/08/471B124500000578-0-image-a-22_1512720787853.jpg)
Lauren has been described as popular and hard working by her devastated parents
![Lauren's memorial tree at Center Parcs where she worked as a beauty therapist](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/08/08/471B126F00000578-0-image-a-24_1512720826349.jpg)
Lauren’s memorial tree at Center Parcs where she worked as a beauty therapist
When Nelson Curtis – who had denied all knowledge of the crash when the police first picked him up – appeared in court in June, admitting the charges, Claire was hoping that seeing justice done would give her closure.
Instead, her heartbreak was exacerbated by what she saw as a far too lenient sentence.
‘This reckless coward fled the scene, without even trying to help Lauren,’ said Claire. ‘He had a skinful of beer, then killed her, when her life had barely started.
‘Judge Rupert Overbury jailed him for just seven years, only banning him from driving for eight and a half years.
‘He’ll be out of jail and back behind a wheel before you know it. How can that ever be justice for taking my daughter’s life?’
![Lauren's favourite song Let It Go from Disney's Frozen was played at her funeral](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/08/08/471B120C00000578-0-image-a-25_1512720875064.jpg)
Lauren’s favourite song Let It Go from Disney’s Frozen was played at her funeral