A mum has shared her heartbreaking story of how her son was killed by a hit and run driver just minutes after she took a photo of him ready for his first night out.
Liverpool FC fan Liam Simpson was just 18-year-old when he was struck down by reckless driver Daniel Beck, now 34. The teenager was killed instantly by "catastrophic" injuries.
Just 15 minutes earlier, loving mum, Vicky Simpson had proudly taken a picture of her boy, with his new haircut and outfit. Liam was going out to celebrate his friend's 18th birthday.
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However, by the time the 41-year-old had uploaded them, Liam had been killed. Vicky, a support worker, had spent the day getting him ready for the night out including taking him to the barbers and cooking his favourite pasta dinner.
Beck fled the scene and checked into Arrowe Park Hospital for treatment on his own injuries, but was found three days later and remanded in custody. He appeared before Mold Crown Court and pleaded guilty to to causing death by dangerous driving, driving without a licence and without insurance in December 2018.
He was handed an eight-year jail term. Liam's devastated family have now found out that Beck has only served four years behind bars.
Mum of five, Vicky, from Holywell, Flintshire said: "Liam was the kindest soul and loved by everyone. We had the best day before he went out – I cooked his favourite tea, spaghetti Bolognese, to make sure he'd lined his stomach.
“I made sure to get his hair cut and picked out some clothes for him as he mainly had sports clothes. And before he left, I made him stand for some pictures because he looked so lovely.
"Little did I know those would be the last ever pictures of him. As soon as I uploaded them to Facebook, he was already gone. Beck will be able to go about, live his life and go back to his family but my baby will never come home.”
Liam, an avid football fan, had just started playing for Holywell Town F.C, when he was due to go on a night out for his friend, Kiran Creedy's, 18th birthday. The young lad was reluctant to go out as he “wasn’t much of a drinker” and had a match on the next day.
But after some convincing from mum Vicky and her partner Mike, 38, a bricklayer, Liam decided to join his mates for the night out on September 30, 2017.
Vicky said: "It was hard to let him go on the night out only because I had the usual motherly worries, I never thought that would be the last time I'd see him. He'd been reluctant to go because he had a football match the next day but me and my partner, Mike had convinced him.
"We wanted to go have some fun. We're the kind of family who doesn't leave a room without saying 'I love you' and the last thing he said to me was ''I love you, mum, don't worry about me, I'll see you in the morning'. I never thought that was the last time I'd see him."
Liam left the house around 6.30pm that night and by 6.45pm he was run down by Beck at a speed between 59mph to 61mph on a road with a 30mph speed limit.
Doctors said the teenager suffered devastating injuries and would have been killed instantly.
Vicky continues: "We had caught wind that something had happened on Well Hill as the road had been blocked off. Mike had tried calling Liam a couple of times but didn't get through, so he went to the Hill to see what was going on as he sensed that it had something to do with Liam.
"He was escorted back to the house by a police officer, and it was then when he came crashing in saying ''he's passed away'. I couldn't believe it because 'passed' sounded so formal and surely it couldn't be about my Liam.
"But when the police officer confirmed it, it was the worst news any parent could receive. That night I laid in Liam's bed and sobbed all night- I didn't sleep a wink."
Vicky had to identify Liam's body while 16 weeks pregnant.
She said: ''That day will haunt me forever. I still have flashbacks and will never be able to unsee his lifeless body on that trolley in the morgue. It was the most horrific thing I have ever had to do.''
Daniel Beck, then 29, of Y Gerddi, Maes Pennant, Mostyn, admitted causing death by dangerous driving, driving without a licence and without insurance in December 2018. He was sentenced to eight years in prison at Mold Crown Court and banned from driving for an extended period of nine years.
Beck's barrister Simon Parry said: “He is genuinely and deeply sorry for the damage he has done.”
Vicky was notified through the Ministry of Justice victim contact scheme that Beck would be released after only serving part of his sentence. If Beck does not adhere to the licence conditions, he can be recalled back to custody.
Mum Vicky said the news was "devastating" and how herself and Liam had an "extremely close bond" as she was only 17-years-old when she had him.
She said: "He always helped me out with his younger brothers, Jack, 21, Max, 15, Jace, 10 and Owen, four. Liam's the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing at night.
"His memory still lives on in all of us and I'm determined to keep talking about him. Beck being released does not mean that he's forgotten, he never can be.
"I will never stop talking about him because I love him more and more every day. I take comfort in that when I go, he'll be waiting for me."
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