Drink driver who killed ‘kind and caring’ man jailed
Court hears victim’s mum was left ‘devastated’
ADRUNK driver who killed ‘kind and caring’ Kristian Johnson after failing to see him standing in the middle of a road has been jailed.
Emily Rogers had been drinking alcohol at the Rose N Bowl in Stacksteads and later at the Waterloo Pub in Bacup when ‘she succumbed to peer pressure’ to take a friend back to Rawtenstall, Preston Crown Court heard this week.
Charity worker and volunteer dance teacher Rogers, who had drunk two pints of lager and two bottles of beer, got behind the wheel of her Suzuki Alto and was travelling along Market Street in Bacup when she struck Mr Johnson, 24.
Prosecutor Frances McEntee said Rogers was “oblivious to the presence of Mr Johnson” in the middle of the carriageway and only applied the brakes after the collision.
The court heard that Mr Johnson suffered “fatal head injuries” following the collision just after 1.05am on June 17, 2019 - a year ago this week - and was pronounced dead at the scene at around 1.45am.
In a powerful and heartbreaking victim impact statement, Mr Johnson’s mum Paula said she has been left ‘devastated and numb’ by her ‘baby’s’ death.
She told the court how her husband had died suddenly in 2009 and Kristian’s death happened just hours after they had celebrated his life on Father’s Day.
Addressing Rogers in the dock, Mrs Johnson told her: “Every day I want you to look in the mirror. I want you to know what you have done to me.”
Mr McEntee said the defendant was “substantially more than twice over the legal limit for alcohol” after providing a reading of 183mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mg.
He told the court that Rogers was “offering something of a taxi service when clearly she shouldn’t have been behind the wheel”.
The defendant, who was 19 at the time of the incident, had been working at the Rose N Bowl and finished her shift around 9pm. The court heard how she changed her clothes and bought a pint of lager for herself and three friends before driving them into Bacup.
Mr McEntee said Mr Johnson entered the Waterloo Pub at around 11.15pm and was followed a minute later by Rogers and her friends. Inside the pub the defendant drank another two bottles of beer and a pint of lager and left the pub at 12.58am.
CCTV footage from the area showed Rogers appearing “unsteady on her feet” as she got into her car to pick up her friend.
Mr McEntee said Mr Johnson had taken a taxi to a Texaco garage on Market Street and was crossing the road when the collision occurred.
A police accident investigation report determined that Rogers would have been able to see him from 40m away and had three seconds to react and avoid a collision.
Mr McEntee said Mr Johnson also had alcohol and cocaine in his system which would have been over the driving limit. The prosecutor told the court that the accident investigator ‘took the view it was not safe to step out with the car approaching’.
The accident investigator also ‘questions whether the collision could have been avoided’, the court heard. However Mr McEntee said the Crown’s case is it ‘could have been mitigated’ if Rogers had seen Mr Johnson and reacted.
In a victim statement, Mrs Johnson said her son was ‘just a kind, caring person’ and had struggled for many years to cope with his father’s death.
She told the court how at one point he ‘reached rock bottom’ and was ‘terrified I would lose him’, but after receiving treatment ‘never returned to that place’.
She said at the start of 2019 he was in a ‘good place’ and they had a ‘lovely day’ celebrating Father’s Day just hours before he was killed.
She said when he was leaving home to go for a drink with friends on the evening of June 16 she kissed him and gave him a hug.
The last words she said to him were “be careful, I love you”.
Mrs Johnson said she was alerted to the collision by a phone call from her niece and was “panicking and screaming” when she arrived at the scene and seeing the road closed off by police.
After receiving the devastating news of her son’s death from a police officer, Mrs Johnson said: “I just broke down. I couldn’t believe I lost my child.
“The one and only thing I treasured so much. I can’t describe the feeling. It was so surreal that his life had gone just like that. This isn’t happening to me again.
“When I found out what happened I was devastated and numb. How can my husband and how can my son die? Two sudden deaths in my life. I hurt all over. My head hurts, my stomach hurts. It’s an indescribable, terrible feeling. All I wanted to do was get Kristian and bring him home.
“I was his mum and we were so close. I know he would’ve wanted me to be there with him. When Kristian was born he made my life complete. He was my only child.
“I swore I would do everything to protect him. I feel I have failed to protect. I tried so hard. I will not have my bloodline extended.
“I will never have grandchildren or see the wonderful moment of him getting married or becoming a grandmother. Everything in my life has gone by a horrible act.
“Emily killed my baby. Every day I want you to look in the mirror. I want you to know what you have done to me. Every day you look in the mirror.
“The first thing you must see.”
Rogers, of Greensnook Cottages, Bacup, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving while driving over the prescribed limit.
Defence barrister Oliver Jarvis said Rogers has been overcome by ‘feelings of remorse, regret and above all guilt about her actions’ and an ‘inability to come to terms with the offence she committed’.
He told the court that she stopped at the scene and tried to offer help to Mr Johnson.
Mr Jarvis said Rogers, now 20, passed her driving test in February 2018 and had no previous points or convictions. He said it was an ‘isolated incident’.
The court heard how Rogers, now 20, volunteered at Pioneer Health Studio and as a dancing group and assisting in special needs classes.
Mr Jarvis said: “It is entirely possible the collision was unavoidable. Her response may have been delayed due to alcohol consumption. Had she been sober the collision may still have been unavoidable. One is talking literally seconds. That can only be momentary inattention.”
Judge Andrew Jefferies QC jailed her for three years and disqualified her from driving for 54 months.
Sentencing, he said: “In the early hours a life was senselessly lost. At the same time your life changed for ever.
“The simple reason for that is that you were drinking alcohol, you succumbed to peer pressure and you drove. There was absolutely no good reason for you to get back behind the wheel of the vehicle that night. You were in excess of twice over the legal limit for alcohol in your blood.
“The victim, Mr Johnson, was for an unknown reason standing within the carriageway of the road. You said that although you saw him you didn’t notice him stop in the road.
“Either way, that failure to notice him over a period of three seconds meant you took no avoiding or braking action until after the collision. It’s right to point out that you were not speeding and you were otherwise driving perfectly and lawfully. I accept the shock of what you did and expressions of remorse are genuine.
“You are 20 but were 19 at the time. You were of good character, you were employed and you had recently finished college trying to further your career in sports exercise science.
“The devastation you caused is apparent from [Paula’s] very moving victim personal statement and the ongoing effects on her are something I do properly take into account.”
Kristian’s aunt Nicola Naughton, speaking on behalf of the family, hit out at the length of the prison sentence, which could see Rogers released on licence before the end of next year, as well as the driving ban.
She said: “That sentence was absolutely disgusting. Eighteen months for a life, because it was a first offence.
“We thought it would be about six or seven years. We are angry at the sentence. My sister is serving a life sentence.
“We think she should have been banned for a long time.”
Kristian’s family were also upset that only Paula could attend the court sentencing, due to restrictions on court attendances during the pandemic.
Loved ones visited the crash scene on Wednesday afternoon to lay floral tributes and remember him on the anniversary of the tragedy.