Drunk & drug driver doing 89mph when he crashed and killed his cousin (original) (raw)

A driver was racing at up to 89mph on a residential street while under the influence of alcohol, cannabis and cocaine when he crashed and killed his cousin in the passenger seat.

Michael Stock lost control of his car and it clipped parked vehicles before spinning across the road, demolishing bollards, a lamppost and bus shelter, and flipping onto its roof. Stock's front seat passenger - Dean Heaven - was thrown from the car and suffered fatal head injuries. Stock was also badly injured in the smash and spent three months in hospital.

The defendant and his second cousin - who grew up on the same street - had spent the day before the late night crash attending the family funeral and wake for Mr Heaven's father. Swansea Crown Court heard that Stock wishes he had been the one killed in the smash and his cousin, who he described as being like his brother, had survived.

Brian Simpson, prosecuting, told the court that the fatal crash happened at 12.40am on May 1, 2021, on Graiglwyd Road in Townhill, Swansea. He said though there were no witnesses to the incident forensic crash investigators had been able reconstruct what happened from CCTV in the area and physical evidence at the scene. He said in the moments before the crash 54-year-old Stock had been driving his Mercedes car along Graiglwyd Road heading towards the roundabout at its junction with Townhill Road at speeds estimated to be between 70mph and 89mph.

The court heard that after negotiating a slight right-hand bend in the road the defendant lost control of his car and the vehicle began to "yaw" with the rear of the Mercedes clipping a van parked on the nearside of the road and then crossing the carriageway and clipping a car parked on the offside. The Mercedes than span through 180 degrees as it demolished concrete bollards and a lamppost outside the parade of shops on the roundabout - sending the lamppost smashing through the window of a kebab shop - before slamming into a bus shelter and flipping onto its roof. The court heard 46-year-old Mr Heaven was thrown some three metres from the car during the collision, while Stock was left hanging upside down from the seatbelt in the wrecked car.

Dean Heaven died in the crash a day after attending his own father's funeral

Police and paramedics were soon on the scene but Mr Heaven had suffered serious and unsurvivable head and rib fractures and was pronounced dead at the scene at just after 1am. Stock was taken to hospital with serious head and back injuries and was placed in an induced coma. He spent three months in hospital before being discharged.

The court heard blood samples taken from the defendant at 5am on the morning of the crash showed he had 117mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood - the legal limit being 80mg - and was also over the driving limit for cannabis and a metabolite of cocaine. The judge, Paul Thomas KC, asked what back calculations had been done to determine Stock's blood-alcohol limit at the time of the crash, and was told by the prosecutor that none had been done - the judge descried the lack of a back calculation in the case as "astonishing".

The court heard that an examination of the crashed Mercedes found no mechanical issues which would have led the to crash, and found there was no evidence the passenger seat belt was being worn at the time of the collision. A report concluded the cause of the crash was a loss of control caused by excessive steering to avoid a parked vehicle on the nearside of the road while travelling at excessive speed in a build up area with levels of alcohol, cannabis and cocaine above the legal driving limits.

The prosecutor said on the day before the early-hours crash both Stock and Mr Heaven had attended the funeral of Mr Heaven's father, and had then attended a family get-together. In his subsequent interview the defendant said he had no memory of the collision nor of the days leading up to it, and said he and the deceased had grown up on the same street and were "like brothers".

In a family impact statement written by Mr Heaven's daughter Jade and read to the court by the prosecutor she said her dad had been her "first love, best friend, and the person who had made m smile" when she was feeling down. She said losing her father was like being trapped in a recurring nightmare from which it was impossible to wake up, and her dad would not be there for the important milestones in her life like walking her down the aisle. She said there was "no goodbye... no answers... the only thing we have for certain is loss".

The crash happened at the junction of Townhill Road and Graiglwyd Road

The crash happened at the junction of Townhill Road and Graiglwyd Road (Image: WalesOnline)

Michael Stock, of Parc y Deri, Skewen, Neath, had previously pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has one previous conviction for one offence of a non-related nature.

Tim Evans, for Stock, said the defendant had expressed to him many times how he wished he could turn the clock back and not drive the car with somebody he "loved dearly". He said Stock had told him he wished he had been the one who had lost his life and Mr Heaven had survived - something the barrister called "the ultimate level of remorse". Mr Evans said the defendant - a former professional driver - had surrendered his licence and "never wants to get behind the wheel again and remember what he did to his beloved friend and cousin Dean".

Judge Paul Thomas KC said all cases of causing death by dangerous driving or careless driving were tragic, and the one before the court was particularly so. He told the defendant that on a rough calculation he would have been twice the drink-drive limit as well as being under the influence of cocaine and cannabis when he drove his cousin on the night in question, and the simple fact was he should never have been anywhere near a car. The judge said Mr Heaven's family had been left devastated and bereft at his needless death, and the cause of that death had been Stock who drove at grossly excessive speed while "out of his head".

Judge Thomas said the starting point for sentencing on the guidelines was one of five years in prison, and he then had to consider the aggravating and mitigating factors in the case - he said the aggravating factors were the defendant's gross impairment through drink and drugs and the speed he had been travelling, while the mitigating factors he was obliged to consider were the fact that the deceased was a close friend of the defendant, the serious injuries the driver had suffered, his lack of previous relevant conditions, his genuine remorse, and the delay in the case coming to court for which the judge said he could see no reason.

The judge said the appropriate sentence after trial would have been one of four years in prison - with a one third discount for his guilty plea Stock was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. The defendant will serve up to a half of that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. Stock was disqualified from driving for five years with the ban extended by an additional one year and four months to account for the time he will be behind bars. He will have to pass an extended sentence before he can get a licence.

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