VAN DRIVER WITH DRUG HANGOVER HIT AND KILLED DAD OF THREE
EFFECTIVELY ‘ASLEEP AT WHEEL’ AFTER USING COCAINE AND CANNABIS
A VAN driver suffering the effects of drugs and lack of sleep hit and killed a 40-yearold father of three walking home.
Leicester Crown Court was told Liam Delaney was effectively “asleep at the wheel” when he killed Michal Michalski in Parker Drive, Stocking Farm, Leicester, at 4.20pm on September 2.
Delaney, 23, of Maidstone Road, Highfields, Leicester, admitted causing death by dangerous driving. He had taken cocaine, followed by cannabis, in the early hours before going to work.
The van also hit a parked BMW and a stationary Renault Scenic. A father was lifting his two-year-old daughter out of the Renault at the time. The impact knocked him over and he dropped the child, injuring both, though not badly.
Delaney was jailed for six years and eight months.
A VAN driver who was “effectively asleep at the wheel” fatally injured a 40-year-old man walking home from work.
Leicester Crown Court was told Liam Delaney was suffering the after effects of a heavy cocaine and cannabis session the night before, combined with lack of sleep.
Judge Timothy Spencer QC said the 23-year-old self-employed builder had no right to be driving in that state, which resulted in his van mounting the pavement on the wrong side of the road at about 35mph.
He failed to see the victim wearing a high-visibility jacket and made no attempt to brake, at 4.20pm on September 2.
Delaney, of Maidstone Road, Highfields, Leicester, admitted causing the death of Michal Michalski by dangerously driving a Vauxhall Vivaro van in Parker Drive, in Stocking Farm, Leicester, and possessing nine wraps of cocaine.
Mr Michalski, a father-of-three, died two days later with his wife at his bedside.
Andrew Howarth, prosecuting, said: “There was nothing Mr Michalski could have done. He wouldn’t have seen the defendant’s vehicle.”
The van also hit a parked BMW and a stationary Renault Scenic containing two small children with their grandparents.
The children’s father, who worked at a nearby window company, was lifting his two-year-old daughter out of the Renault at the time. The impact knocked him over and he dropped the child, injuring both, but not seriously.
Delaney was described as “agitated and angry,” at the scene “but also distressed.”
He gave a negative alcohol breath sample but a swab tested positive for cannabis and cocaine.
A blood sample, taken two hours later, showed he was below the prescribed limit for both drugs. But another result showed he was 10 times over the limit for benzoylecgonine – the main metabolite for cocaine – with 509 micrograms in a litre of blood, when the legal driving limit is 50mcg.
Sentencing, Judge Spencer said personal statements from relatives were deeply moving and Mr Michalski’s heartbroken wife, Agnieszka, had described him as “the beating heart of the family”.
Son Ollie, who attended the hearing with his mother, described his father as “the best dad anyone could ask for” and 11-year-old daughter Malina described him as “amazing,” with 16-year-old Jagoda saying her father’s loss had left an “immense hole” in their lives.
The judge told Delaney: “You veered across the opposite carriageway causing a number of vehicles to make emergency stops and you went along the pavement and hit Mr Michalski from behind. He didn’t stand a chance and he was thrown into the air before your van collided with two vehicles.”
He said the incident badly affected the family in the Renault and the grandmother suffered flashbacks and has not driven since.
The judge said: “You told the police that having left work in Highfields you were following a colleague.
“Surely you were aware of the debilitating effects of the collaboration of drugs and lack of sleep. You shouldn’t have been driving.
“You candidly told the police you took cocaine at 1am and then took cannabis to assist going to sleep but did not go to sleep until 3am or 4am, before getting up for work at 6am.
“It’s a cautionary tale to the perils of what might be classed as social drug taking.
“There was no attempt to brake or steer away, you couldn’t have been more impaired and were, in effect, asleep at the wheel.”
Steven Newcombe, mitigating, said: “This young man is full of guilt and regret for his actions and sorrow for what has happened.
“He’s caused enormous damage to the family involved but also to loved ones on his side.
“He was driving when tired after a heavy night of drug use and then doing a heavy day’s work.”
Mr Newcombe said the defendant’s partner had recently given birth and he was likely to miss his daughter’s early years.
Delaney was jailed for six years and eight months.
He was banned from driving for six years and four months.
DRIVER ‘WHO WAS IN EFFECT ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL’ JAILED