6 years for death of budding runners

Six years for killinHg

A FATHER told how he heard the bang as a speeding drink-driver mowed down and killed his daughter and her friend on a crossing.

Lee Burrows had dropped off promising athlete Stacey, 16, for a training run with Lucy Pygott, 17, when they were hit by soldier Michael Casey.

Yesterday the heartbroken dad said: “I heard a loud bang and screams and ran down the steps frantically looking for Stacey only to be stopped by one of the parents who said ‘It’s Stacey.’

“Then I saw Stacey lying in the road with people trying to help her.

“I felt I died with Stacey that night. I cried with fear and I froze with shock.”

Describing the impact on the family, Mr Burrows added: “We just miss her so much it’s painful.”

Casey, 24, who had been drinking with friends, was jailed for six years after admitting causing death by dangerous driving. Both his victims were successful middle-distance runners who were due to compete in an international event.

The crown court in Winchester, Hants, heard that Casey was distracted because a friend had been sick in his black Ford Focus.

He was looking at the vomit while driving at 40mph in a 30mph zone near his barracks in Aldershot, Hants. The soldier, from Tottenham, North London, told police he looked up to see a red traffic light, “felt” a collision and saw the two girls in the road.

In a statement read in court Lucy’s mother Lisa said: “Mr Casey has broken our precious family. We are lost without Lucy.

“The army trains soldiers to kill; Mr Casey killed with his loaded weapon of a hot-hatch car.”

Lucy, of Hartley Wintney, Hants, won a 3,000m bronze medal at the European Youth Championships in July. Her family described her as “an absolute joy”.

Stacey, from Farnborough, was the Hampshire under-17 3,000m champion. Her family said she was “perfect in every possible way”.

The girls were due to represent Aldershot, Farnham and District Athletic Club at a competition in Spain.

Casey, of the 4 Rifles Regiment, who was travelling between 45mph and 52mph, was also disqualified for 10 years. He had 46mcg of alcohol in 100mm of breath. The legal limit is 35.

His six-year jail term means he should be released on licence after three years.

As the verdict was read, Stacey’s mother Helen shouted from the gallery: “I do not get my daughter back in three years, do I.”