Mia Wort killer lied to police moments after Kanes Hill fatal crash
Moments after causing the fatal crash that killed 18-year-old Mia Wort, Craig Procter, 38, told officers the driver of the Audi A3 being driven on the wrong side of the road had run into the woods.
He later admitted he had been driving.
Mia was a passenger in her boyfriend’s Ford Focus and suffered “unsurvivable” injuries.
She was rushed to hospital where she later died.
Her boyfriend Samuel Hotston tried to free her from the car before emergency services arrived but a judge said there was “nothing he could do” before and after the accident.
Prosecuting, Charles Gabb told Southampton Crown Court that the day before the crash Procter spent several hours drinking in two separate pubs. He had also taken cocaine.
He went home to his mother’s house at around 11pm where they argued about his drinking.
Two hours later, he stole her car and drove off to meet a friend before causing the crash on the A27 Kanes Hill.
Drink driver Craig Procter has been jailed for eight and a half years (Image: Hampshire police)
Speaking at his sentencing, Mr Gabb said Procter had moved onto the wrong side of the road.
He added that he had been going at about 68mph in a 40mph zone and was twice over the drink-drive limit.
Despite initially denying responsibility, Procter later pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and aggravated vehicle taking.
Mitigating, Audrey Archer said her client accepts what he has done adding: “This defendant knows what the root cause of his offending is.
“He is motivated to get help to ensure that those factors subside in terms of their relevance in his life.”
Judge, Christopher Parker, said there was “nothing (Mia’s boyfriend) could do before the accident and nothing he could do after the accident”.
He added that Procter had been driving whilst disqualified and with no insurance, breaching a previous suspended order that had been put in place for an offence of dangerous driving.
Mother-of-one Mia Wort (Image: Family handout)
DC Mark Furse, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “A family has been devastated because of one man’s complete disregard for the laws of the road.
“Procter should not have been driving full stop, let alone while drunk and high on drugs in a stolen car.
“Drivers like Procter deserve to be behind bars.
“Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Mia.”
Procter, of The Acorns in Bursledon, was jailed for eight years and six months.
He was also disqualified from driving for five years with a four-year and three-month extension to take into account the time he will serve in custody.
References
- ^ Drink driver who killed young mother is jailed (www.dailyecho.co.uk)
- ^ Man admits causing death of Southampton mother in crash (www.dailyecho.co.uk)