A ONE-eyed driver killed a mum in a horror cash after getting behind the wheel of a car he bought on Facebook with a broken leg.
Steven Michael Gaskell was on a driving ban after being caught while disqualified seven times when the tragedy unfolded.
SWNSSteven Michael Gaskell has been jailed for five years[/caption]
Courtney died from catastrophic injuries
Despite never passing his test, the 31-year-old bought a Mini for £400 from Facebook Marketplace and picked up girlfriend Courtney Donnelly, 23.
Gaskell then lost control of the car and rolled it 60 metres down the road in Brampton Ash, Northamptonshire.
Tragically, Courtney, who had a two-year-old child, couldn’t be saved and died from “catastrophic injuries”.
At the time of the horror in September last year, Gaskell was on a suspended sentence for driving a stolen car.
He had also been a banned driver for 11 years and had 53 convictions dating back to when he was 19.
When Gaskell was arrested, he asked police why the courts always let him off.
He said: “Why do I always get away with it? She’s dead. I might as well be dead. I don’t want to be here anymore.”
Gaskell has now been for five years and two months after he admitted causing death by driving while disqualified, possession with intent to supply cannabis and driving without insurance.
Sentencing, Judge Rupert Mayo said: “It’s a shame it’s taken the death of Courtney Donnelly to bring about any form of understanding as to why you shouldn’t drive while disqualified.”
Courtney’s aunt Kelly Donnelly read a moving victim impact statement as Gaskell wept in the dock.
She told how her niece’s life had been “stolen” and described Courtney as a “loving single mother who always put her daughter first”.
Kelly added: “Courtney was the perfect sister and a great daughter. How can a parent ever come to terms with the loss of their daughter and the horrific incident which occurred that night?
“My sister will never find the words to explain the devastation she felt.
“She remembers screaming, crying and shouting no, no, no. My sister wasn’t able to recognise her daughter.
“Imagine not being able to identify your own daughter.”
Northampton Crown Court heard the couple had only been seeing each other for two weeks when Courtney was killed.
Gaskell had bought the Mini less than six hours before he clipped a verge and rolled several times into a field.
Police later discovered cannabis, pills and two mobile phones that showed Gaskell, who lost his eye after being shot with a BB gun, was a drug dealer.
He told officers: “I’ve killed her, haven’t I? The car must have been dodgy. I felt her go a few times.
“I shouldn’t have been driving while disqualified. She’s 23, she’s dead. What am I meant to do now. I’m going to jail. At least I can see with one eye.”
Experts examined the car but found nothing wrong with it, the court heard.
Detective Constable Eleanor Hudson, of Northamptonshire Police, said after the case: “Steven Gaskell has clearly demonstrated a total disregard for the sanctions imposed by the court as he knew that he was not entitled to be driving yet still chose to do so.
“His selfish decision to continue to get behind the wheel of a car not only robbed a young woman of her future but also her young daughter of her mummy.
“Courtney was a much-loved daughter, and her death has left her family devastated and heartbroken.
“Through his own fault, Gaskell will live with the consequences of the decisions he made on that night.
“Not only the impact it has had on his partner, her daughter and family but his own life too.”
Courtney had only been seeing Gaskell for two weeksFacebook
SWNSThe single mum had a two-year-old daughter[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
