Dad: ‘If you are going to drink, then don’t drive’

A grieving father who lost his only son due to a drunk driver has launched an impassioned plea to drivers and passengers as it was revealed Maidstone has Kent’s highest number of drinkdrive crashes and deaths.

Pete Funnell’s son Will, 19, died on the way home from a night out in Maidstone when the car he was a passenger in spun out of control at 84mph at Linton Hill and ploughed into an oncoming 4x4.

New figures from Kent County Council show the borough and Dartford had 101 accidents between April 2013 and April 2016 involving alcohol – the highest in the county.

Maidstone’s figure includes four deaths, a statistic matched by Canterbury and Thanet, again the most in Kent.

Mr Funnell, 51, from Biddenden, supports the county council’s annual campaign on the issue. He said he and wife Kate now dread Christmas, a time of year Will loved.

The crash happened in August 2013 as Will, from Golford, near Cranbrook, was being driven home. It also killed the driver, who was three times over the drink-drive limit.

His parents struggle to cope knowing their son decided to get a lift rather than take a taxi that night.

Mr Funnell, a landscaper, said he had rung Will to see where he was the morning after the accident.

He said: “Then I heard there had been a fatal crash on Linton Hill. In my heart of hearts, at that moment I knew he was in it.”

After none of Will’s friends could suggest where he was Mr Funnell phoned police to say he thought his son was involved in the Linton crash.

“They asked me if he had any distinguishing marks so I told them about the tattoo on his arms and on his hands. The policeman called me back and said ‘where are you?’

“I knew then he was dead. The police officer came to Will’s house and he told me William died at 4.30am.

“We got to the morgue and had to look through a window into a room where Will was lying. His eyes were still open and his hair was all over the place. It was just horrendous.” He described Will as someone who “never wasted one minute of his life”.

His advice to people – young and old – over Christmas is simple: “If you are going to drink, then don’t drive, and if you are going to drive, don’t drink. Leave the car where it is, walk home, get a taxi. If you’re worried about someone else’s driving, don’t get in the car.

“How do you think our Christmases are now? We don’t have any cards up, we don’t have presents, no lights up, no decorations, nothing.”

Since Will’s death, the couple have set up a trust to help other bereaved parents. See www. thewillfunnelltrust.com