Drunk driver boasted ‘I’m f***ing smashed’ moments before killing woman
A drunk driver filmed himself boasting about being ‘f***ing smashed’ moments before killing a woman in a head-on crash.
Anton Hull, 21, had spent the evening drinking rum and lager at a pub in Somerset, with staff there later telling police they stopped serving him because he was so intoxicated.
Other drinkers pleaded with him to leave his Ford Transit in the car park overnight, but Hull made the ‘catastrophic’ decision to get behind the wheel.
He can be heard slurring his words in the clip, recorded minutes before he smashed into a Volkswagen driven by 29-year-old Sarah Baker.
She had recently finished a Master’s degree and died days after putting in an offer on her first home.
In a statement, her family said: ‘The loss of Sarah has left a gaping hole in our hearts.
‘Over a year has passed and every single day, we have struggled to know how to carry on without her.’
They branded Hull, who was jailed for six years after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, ‘utterly selfish’, saying he ‘ended [Sarah’s] life and ruined those lives around her’.
‘She was the most caring, loyal and generous daughter, sister, niece, cousin, friend and most recently aunty anyone could hope to have in their lives,’ the statement went on.
‘The immeasurable pain we feel is so unnecessary when Sarah’s death was entirely preventable.’
Jailing Hull, Judge Edward Burgess said: ‘Your dangerous driving killed Sarah Baker, having made a selfish decision to drive despite warnings, knowing full well you were too drunk to do so.
‘Your driving was significantly impaired, and you used your phone to record yourself driving in an intoxicated state.
‘Words cannot do justice to the enormity and needless tragedy of this incident.’
Collision investigations officer Dai Nicholas, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: ‘My heart goes out to the family of Sarah Baker.
‘She was only 29 years old and had her whole life ahead of her before it was cruelly snatched away in this tragic incident.
‘Anton Hull made a conscious decision to drive to the pub. He made a conscious decision to drink lager and rum.
‘He then made a catastrophic conscious decision to drive home, when he was clearly unfit to.
‘That he filmed himself on his own phone just increased the level of risk even more.
‘We are grateful to all the witnesses who helped our investigation so we could piece together the full events of this tragic night and secure this conviction.’
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