A drink-driver who filmed himself on his mobile phone saying he was “smashed” just minutes before a fatal collision, which claimed the life of a young woman, has now been jailed for six years.
Anton Hull, from Somerset, was driving a Ford Transit van home after drinking rum in a pub when the collision occurred near Wincanton at around 11pm at night on August 18, 2022.
Hull, 21, was called “utterly selfish” by Sarah Baker’s family.
Pub staff told police they had refused to serve him at about 10.30pm because of his “level of intoxication”, and other people had told him to leave his Ford Transit van in the car park.
Hull’s vehicle collided with a Volkswagen car being driven in the opposite direction by Sarah Baker, 29, who was on her way to Somerset for a weekend away. Tragically, she was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Her family said they have “struggled” to know how to carry on without her. She had just finished a master’s degree and put in an offer to buy her first home.
They said: “Sarah had spent the last four weeks of her life supporting her sister with her newborn baby and was simply driving to Somerset to have a weekend away.
“She was the most caring, loyal and generous daughter, sister, niece, cousin, friend and most recently aunty anyone could hope to have in their lives.”
Officer in the case, Dai Nicholas, said: “My heart goes out to the family of Sarah Baker. She was only 29 years old and had her whole life ahead of her before it was cruelly snatched away in this tragic incident.”
A blood test showed Hull, of Long Street, Galhampton, was approximately one-and-a-half to two times over the legal drink-drive limit.
Avon and Somerset Police said he had refused to provide officers with the passcode for his mobile phone but experts were able to gain access and find videos he had filmed at the wheel.
In the video, he slurs his words, groans and says: “I am f***ing smashed.”
Hull admitted causing death by dangerous driving at a hearing in October and was jailed for six years and given a nine-year driving ban.
Judge Edward Burgess said: “Your dangerous driving killed Sarah Baker, having made a selfish decision to drive despite warnings, knowing full well you were too drunk to do so.
“Your driving was significantly impaired, and you used your phone to record yourself driving in an intoxicated state. Words cannot do justice to the enormity and needless tragedy of this incident.”
