A serving soldier killed a 22-year-old woman as he sped to Starbucks in his Mercedes at 68mph.
Jack Caddick was travelling at more than double the speed limit when he lost control on a bend and smashed almost head-on into another car. One of his passengers, nursery worker Claudia Forden, died as a result of her injuries, while his girlfriend was also seriously hurt on what was her 21st birthday.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this afternoon, Friday, that David Hockey was driving his Honda CR-V along Little Crosby Road in the direction of Crosby at around 1.30pm on August 28 2021 and was travelling in a 30mph zone as he approached a right-hand bend after passing Little Crosby. Paul Becker, prosecuting, described how another car then "emerged, flying around the bend" from the oncoming direction when he was around 20 metres away from the turn.
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The red Mercedes, being driven by Caddick, was "trying to take the corner but travelling too fast" and veered into the wrong lane. Mr Hockey was said to have "had no chance to brake or swerve", and the other vehicle hit him "almost head on, but slightly to the side".
Fleur Durrant, the front seat passenger of the defendant's car, described how he had picked her and Ms Forden up only minutes earlier in order to take them to Starbucks on the Formby Bypass. She had been dating Caddick for around eight weeks at the time of the incident, having met him through Claudia – a colleague at the children's nursery where they both worked whom she had become close friends with.
Ms Durrant stated that his driving "changed" after the 27-year-old had pulled out on Little Crosby Road and that he had "put his foot down". She recalled that he was speeding so fast that she was "pushed back in her seat".
Caddick, of Georgia Close in Bootle, then accelerated again as he approached the bend. Ms Durrant remembered being thrown forward as he slammed on the brakes, after which there was a "loud bang" as the two cars collided.
She was able to get out onto a grass verge following the smash, while members of the public helped to remove Ms Forden, who had been sitting in the rear offside seat, from the vehicle. Claudia was rushed to Aintree Hospital in an ambulance, but was pronounced dead shortly after 4pm as a result of "severe abdominal injuries".
Mr Hockey meanwhile was airlifted to Aintree Hospital, where he remained for two days after suffering injuries including broken ribs. Ms Durrant sustained fractures to her right foot and collarbone.
Ms Forden had spent the previous night at her home as the day of the accident was her 21st birthday. Ms Durrant has since "terminated her relationship" with Caddick, who later claimed to her that his "brakes were not working".
But specialist collision investigators concluded that this was not the case. He was estimated to have been travelling at between 63mph and 68mph around 130 metres away from the scene of the crash, and at between 57mph and 60mph "immediately prior" to the crash.
Caddick, who appeared in a wheelchair in the dock, gave a prepared statement to detectives when eventually interviewed in July last year. In it, he said that he had suffered a "mild traumatic brain injury" and breaks to both his heels.
The lance corporal in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers regiment of the army described how he was awaiting further surgery, and was still facing the prospect of losing his right leg. Of the crash, Caddick added: "In August 2021, I was on post-operational leave having served with the UN in Mali.
"My memory of the incident is extremely limited. I remember snippets but very little, which may be down to my brain injury.
"I do recall parking outside Fleur’s house on the day and seeing her birthday banners. I don’t remember the girls getting in the car or anything that was said.
"I remember everything going black and getting real pain in my feet. I looked to the left and saw Fleur getting out of the vehicle and then looking to the rear and seeing Claudia lying down on her left side in the car seat.
"I am normally a very careful and considerate driver, and the description of the standard of my driving that day does not fit the usual very high standards that I usually employ. Under normal circumstances I would never travel at 60mph in a 30mph zone.
"I do not believe that I was travelling at such a speed, but I do accept that evidence lends itself to the theory I was speeding – but not excessively as the forensic examination of my dashcam suggests. I fully accept that I must have been careless."
Martine Snowdon, defending, told the court today: "He wishes his remorse, his regret and his apology, to those whose lives he knows his actions have torn apart, could in some small way make it better to those people. He knows and understands the futility of the situation he has created and the unpalatable reality.
"No sentence and no words can help. He has since that day and will while he serves in prison and for the rest of his life, by his own fault, bear the burden of breaking so many lives.
"It will deter other people from taking risks that can, in a matter of seconds, turn what was a car full of happiness and bright futures into a complete tragedy. He is a man who has, before this, lived an impeccable life.
"His service of eight years for his county is described as exemplary. He had everything to be proud of.
"As a consequence of the way he lived his life, he had the genuine love and respect from all who knew him. His life is forever changed as a consequence of what happened.
"It is clear that his injuries caused him significant pain and disability and will continue to do so to some significant extent for the rest of his life. There is no escape from the fact that he can do nothing to reduce the irreparable devastation he has caused."
Caddick admitted causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He was jailed for five years and four months and banned from driving for eight years and eight months, and will be required to pass an extended retest.
Sentencing, Judge Louis Brandon said: "On August 28 2021, lives were changed forever. Claudia Forden, a young woman in her early 20s, lost her life.
"Fleur Durrant and David Hockey received serious injuries. You, Jack Caddick, received life-changing injuries also.
"This was all because, for reasons we will never know, you decided to drive too fast around a bend. It was impossible for Mr Hockey the avoid the collision.
"He had no chance to break or swerve. You were flying around the bend, you were unable to control your vehicle at that speed.
"It was Ms Durrant's 21st birthday. She was spending it with her best friend.
"It should have been filled with happiness and joy. These are not the memories she will have now.
"It is impossible to properly understand the pain and suffering that those involved in this incident have been caused. Her family describe a beautiful young woman at the start of a promising future and with so much to look forward to.
"She brought so much joy and light to all those who knew her. No sentence I could impose today can in any way ease the intense pain and loss or in any way compensate her family and friends or reflect the dreadful and untimely loss of life."
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