A man who left his girlfriend to die after crashing his car into a bin lorry while under the influence of alcohol and drugs has been jailed.

Kevin Marsh lost control of his car in St Helens while driving at "grossly excessive speeds" on 5 July.

Merseyside Police said he fled the scene leaving mother-of-four Michelle Atherton, who died from her injuries.

The 42-year-old was jailed for 16 years at Liverpool Crown Court for causing death by dangerous driving.

Marsh, of Gaskell Street was also disqualified from driving for 18 years after he pleaded guilty on the second day of a trial.

Det Sgt Kurt Timpson said the sentence would act as "a stark message to anyone whose selfish and reckless actions end in such tragedy".
'Unimaginable harm'

Marsh's white Ford Fiesta went over to the wrong side of the road along Broad Okay Road near St Helens town centre on a wet Wednesday morning before he lost control and crashed into the front of a refuse truck, the court heard.

Ms Atherton, 47, suffered serious injuries and died in hospital shortly after the crash, while Marsh left the scene on foot but was later found and arrested.

Det Sgt Timpson said Marsh was "impaired through drink and drugs" and he was driving "vastly in excess of the speed limit" before the crash.

The lives of Ms Atherton's family have been "changed forever by this incident", he added.

In a tribute released after her death last year, her family described her as "the best mum that anyone could have ever dreamt or wished for" who was "taken from us too soon".

Det Sgt Timpson said: "Excess speed and driving while impaired through drink and drugs devastates lives and causes unimaginable harm to people who become involved in road crashes."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-67945864

On 12/01/2024 09:03 am, Simon Mason wrote:

> A man who left his girlfriend to die after crashing his car into a bin lorry while under the influence of alcohol and drugs has been jailed.
> Kevin Marsh lost control of his car in St Helens while driving at "grossly excessive speeds" on 5 July.
> Merseyside Police said he fled the scene leaving mother-of-four Michelle Atherton, who died from her injuries.
> The 42-year-old was jailed for 16 years at Liverpool Crown Court for causing death by dangerous driving.
> Marsh, of Gaskell Street was also disqualified from driving for 18 years after he pleaded guilty on the second day of a trial.
> Det Sgt Kurt Timpson said the sentence would act as "a stark message to anyone whose selfish and reckless actions end in such tragedy".
> 'Unimaginable harm'
> Marsh's white Ford Fiesta went over to the wrong side of the road along Broad Okay Road near St Helens town centre on a wet Wednesday morning before he lost control and crashed into the front of a refuse truck, the court heard.

"Broad Okay Road"?

There is no such place in St Helens (or in any part of the UK known to
the gazetteer of Google Maps).

Perhaps the BBC meant "Broad Oak Road" (which does exist)?

> Ms Atherton, 47, suffered serious injuries and died in hospital shortly after the crash, while Marsh left the scene on foot but was later found and arrested.
> Det Sgt Timpson said Marsh was "impaired through drink and drugs" and he was driving "vastly in excess of the speed limit" before the crash.
> The lives of Ms Atherton's family have been "changed forever by this incident", he added.
> In a tribute released after her death last year, her family described her as "the best mum that anyone could have ever dreamt or wished for" who was "taken from us too soon".
> Det Sgt Timpson said: "Excess speed and driving while impaired through drink and drugs devastates lives and causes unimaginable harm to people who become involved in road crashes."

> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-67945864

What is the chav-cycling content?

The BBC missed out his fairy story where he put the blame on the woman he killed.

QUOTE:
After the collision, the trial heard Marsh was "staggering", "stumbling", and "looked like he had been drinking".

Marsh also told people at the scene that the Fiesta was not his car and he "didn't know what it was doing there".

He further alleged that he was a pedestrian and that he had been "jumped on" and was being set up, and also tried to call a taxi to leave the scene.

A roadside breath test showed that the driver had 58 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath, over the limit of 35.

Further reports showed that his blood to alcohol level was more than double the limit, and he also tested positive for cocaine and cannabis.

During the trial, prosecuting barrister Gibson said that Marsh was "making [his story] up" and had told "lie after lie" in the courtroom, adding that it was "the hands of Kevin Marsh that caused that head-on collision and the death of Michelle Atherton”.

Accepting his involvement in the death of his girlfriend, Marsh, of Gaskell Street in Parr, had pleaded guilty to death by careless driving while under the influence of drink and drugs.

He had denied the more serious charge of causing death by dangerous driving, but after hearing all the evidence, the jury of four men and eight women took less than three hours to reach a unanimous decision yesterday.

During Marsh’s sentencing hearing on Thursday, Mr Gibson said: “The victim was not to blame for the collision” and that “the suggestion he was driving relatively normally is fanciful”.

He described Marsh’s driving as a “prolonged and persistent deliberate and deliberate course of dangerous driving”.

Mr Gibson described the movement of the car “from the correct side of the road” was a “highly dangerous manoeuvre” and that Marsh was “highly impaired by consumption of alcohol and drugs.”

He stated Marsh was “uninsured to drive the vehicle” and he “wrongly placed the blame on the victim of his criminality and did attempt to leave the scene.”

The court heard Marsh had a previous conviction in 2006 for driving with excess alcohol.

Defending Marsh, Steven Ball said: “He has to accept that a significant feature aggravating the sentence was he based his defence on blaming” his victim, adding “he caused pain and distress” to Michelle Atherton’s family and friends.

Mr Ball asked the judge to keep any increase to the sentence to the “absolute minimum”.

Judge David Aubrey KC said: “Lives have now changed forever and her family will never be the same, she was to them the best mum to her sons and daughter, and their children have lost their grandmother.”

Judge Aubrey said Marsh “left her to die” because “you were thinking of your selfish self. At the scene she was calling out for her daughter and it pains her daughter that she was left alone to die.

“Michelle Atherton, notwithstanding some issues she had has been described as a kind-hearted and wonderful mother and grandmother and the family are left to mourn and grieve and will do so for the rest of their lives.”

Passing sentence, judge David Aubrey KC said: “I am satisfied that the deceased had not in any way contributed to the collision by grabbing, or trying to grab, the steering wheel and she hadn’t told you to put your foot down”.

'You left your girlfriend to die - you then commenced a charade of deceit'

Jailing Marsh, of Gaskell Street, Parr, for 16 years, the judge said he had “set to blame everybody else” and this “provides you with no mitigation”.

The judge said that after “you left your girlfriend to die you then commenced a charade of deceit, the purpose of which was your own self-preservation and self-protection because I’m satisfied that notwithstanding your fractured ankle and wrist you knew and remembered precisely what you were doing and what you were saying before you were ultimately arrested..”

The judge said Marsh’s expression of remorse in the witness box during the trial were “hollow words”.

Judge Aubrey said “you have exacerbated the grief held by her family”. ENDS

https://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/news/24042696.kevin-marsh-sentenced-causing-death-girlfriend-head-on-crash/