Drink driver jailed for killing groom-to-be in crash days before wedding delayed by Covid pandemic
A drink driver has been jailed for almost ten years for causing the death of a groom-to-be only days before his long-awaited wedding.
Richard Allen, 33, from Lichfield, died instantly when his blue Ford Fiesta was struck on the nearside by a speeding black Volkswagen Passat on the A5 at Wall Island on December 23 last year.
Mr Allen was due to tie the knot with his fiancée on New Year's Eve after being forced to delay the marriage due to the Covid pandemic.
Sentencing the Passat driver, Marius Mihai of Bell Lane in Boxwich, Judge Rupert Mayo said: "No sentence that you will serve and no order that I can make is designed or intended to pay for the life of Richard Allen. His life was simply too valuable to place any quantity on it.
"Your counsel very sensibly conceded that this case and death that came before Christmas last year was tragic in every way for everyone connected to it, for Richard, Natalie and his sister."
"It is particularly poignant that he and Natalie were due to get married on New Year's Eve after postponing their wedding because of Covid. Due to his death on December 23 Natalie was forced to tell all the proposed guests that the wedding was off. She was left with unopened Christmas presents and wedding gifts. There was significant devastation upon his family as a result of your driving."
