Anger as drunk is jailed for killing stepdaughter
Aunt condemns ‘pitiful’ eight-year sentence for driver
THE family of a trainee teacher, killed by her stepdad in a horror drink-drive smash, have slammed his ‘‘pitiful’’ eight-year jail term.
Chloe Kerr, 22, died six days after the crash in Wishaw, near Sutton Coldfield, in 2018.
Chloe’s aunt Esther Bell was so devastated at seeing her fighting for life in hospital that she later suffered a heart attack.
Paul Hampso, Chloe’s stepfather, was jailed for seven years and 11 months this week after admitting causing her death by careless driving when under the influence of alcohol.
She had been a passenger in Hampson’s Mercedes when it smashed into a tree as he drove her and her mother home from a wedding.
Chloe had not been wearing a seatbelt.
Coventry Crown Court heard Hampson had been drinking ‘‘all day’’ and should never been behind the wheel of a car. The court was told that hospital staff could smell drink on the driver as they tended to him.
Now her aunt has told the Post how losing Chloe had ‘‘totally devastated’’ the family.
Mrs Bell, whose brother Darren is Chloe’s father, said she had been so destroyed by the collision she had suffered a heart attack.
“Chloe and I were so very close. My son Luke is only a year younger than her – she was like a daughter to me,” Mrs Bell said.
“On the day I first visited her in hospital, after the crash, I suffered a heart attack. I was in hospital for days.
“My son and husband Russell never left Chloe’s bedside. We were all totally gutted.
“Chloe was bubbly and beautiful, she had a heart of gold and always walked away from trouble.
“She had just graduated, she had the world at her feet and had a lovely boyfriend, Jack, who was left so distraught.”
While Darren and Chloe’s mother, Emma, separated when Chloe was young, Mrs Bell had remained close
to her former sister-in-law. She even attended Emma’s wedding to Hampson.
Last week it emerged Emma – who was also badly hurt in the smash – is standing by her husband despite his responsibility for the tragedy.
Mrs Bell, from Bearwood, added: “Emma and I were so very close. We all got on so well, but I am disgusted that she is standing by him.
“I am so disappointed and angry in
her. Paul even had the cheek to go to Chloe’s funeral.
“I know Chloe got in that car. She was old enough to make that choice – but I firmly believe she would have been wearing a seatbelt and if she took it off it would have been momentarily.”
The court heard how Hampson, 46, of Chelmsley Wood, had been ‘‘significantly drunk’’ and ‘‘way beyond the legal drink-drive limit’’ at the time
of the crash. Jailing him for seven years and 11 months, Judge Peter Cooke said Chloe’s life had been ‘‘snuffed out’’ by his intoxicated carelessness at the wheel .
“The pitiful sentence is nowhere near long enough. Our family will have to live with the loss of Chloe for the rest of our lives,” added Mrs Bell.
“It’s been a long wait for justice, almost three years, all we wanted was justice for Chloe.
“He should have been jailed for longer but Chloe can be put to rest now.”
Chloe’s grandmother Yana submitted a statement to the court saying she had been “left with a broken heart that can never be fixed”.
Following her death Chloe’s old school, Water Orton Primary, where she returned as part of her teachertraining last year, paid tribute in a statement from head teacher Carl Lewis.
He said: “Chloe worked incredibly hard and was a natural, talented teacher, even taking part in residential visits with Year 6 in her own time.
“Chloe was a very capable young person who had a love of life and was very caring about others.”
Following her death thousands of balloons were released on the village green in front of the school, to pay tribute to her.