"I can only see it as murder on the highway." These are the words used by the partner of a woman whose life was cruelly taken by a drug-driver.
Dealer Joseph Trussell had been using cocaine into the early hours of July 18, 2020, Bristol Crown Court heard. Still under the influence he drove for a re-stock of drugs, taking his young daughter and step-daughter with him, and smashed his BMW head-on into a Toyota driven by Peter Reeves in which his 85-year-old partner Barbara Everton was a passenger.
Bristol Crown Court heard grandmother-of-five Mrs Everton sustained significant internal injuries and was transferred to Southmead Hospital. Tragically she died a week after the collision.
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Trussell, 29, of Thirlmere Road in Patchway, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, offering to supply a Class A drug and failing to surrender to custody in July 2020. And the court heard he racked up another conviction for drug driving in April last year. Judge Martin Picton jailed him for eight years and ten months.
The judge told Trussell: "Tragedy is a word that is sometimes used too easily but there is no other description appropriate for the terrible and irreversible harm that you have caused. No sentence that I pass today can begin to match the damage that you have done.
"None of this was necessary. All of what happened was entirely your fault." Trussell was banned from driving for 11 years and five months.
Christopher Smyth, prosecuting, said Trussell was driving on the B4465 near Westerleigh Crematorium when he swerved head-on into the path of Peter Reeves' Toyota, in which his partner Barbara was a passenger.
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Mr Smyth said Trussell was tested to be over the drug-drive limit, having consumed cocaine prior to the collision. The court heard that would have caused him to take increased risk combined with poor judgement, combined with his fatigue of drug dealing in the early hours before.
Mr Reeves, a retired police officer, gave a heart-felt impact statement in which he said the day of accident marked the end of his life with his precious Barbara. Mr Reeves, who sustained serious injuries in the crash, described how he continues to suffer mental anguish from being bereaved of his soulmate, who was much-loved by him and her family and did voluntary work at Cossham Hospital.
He stated: "She was loved and adored by many people. Now there is no meaning to my life, my precious soulmate has gone. I can only see it as murder on the highway."
Barbara's daughter Susan gave a statement in which she said: "We expected her too have many more years. Her being taken from us has left us all bereft."
Charles Row QC, defending, said: "His addiction, at the time, was all-consuming. That addiction utterly consumed his life. From the moment he got up to the moment he went to bed it took priority over his family, friends, the safety of others and his personal safety."
Mr Row said remorseful Trussell lost his work in lockdown and started selling drugs to provide for his family. He is now free of addiction, the court heard.
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