A bride-to-be has told how she cradled her fiance in her arms after he was killed by his friend in a 60mph crash.
Katie Tomkinson said their three-year-old son remembers his father Daryl Bright, 26, as his ‘superhero daddy from heaven’.
Miss Tomkinson was at home in Partington, Greater Manchester, when police called her late at night to say her fiance had suffered fatal injuries when an Audi S3 hatchback he was a passenger in lost control on black ice and ploughed into a tree.
She dashed to the crash scene on a country lane but her future husband had already passed away by the time she was able to cradle him in her arms.
Katie Tomkinson said their three-year-old son remembers his father Daryl Bright (pictured with his son), 26, as his ‘superhero daddy from heaven’
In a statement Miss Tomkinson and Mr Bright’s family condemned the Audi driver Michael Pullan, 29, for his ‘selfishness’ as he was jailed for three years and nine months after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.
She said the couple’s young son Alfie is now having to undergo counselling to cope with his grief and she had hoped to have a baby girl with Mr Bright after they got married.
‘I’m a broken person and I will never be fixed,’ Miss Tomkinson told Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester. ‘Knowing Alfie will only ever hear and see his father on videos and only rely on memories of how much his daddy loved him makes me feel my world is over.
Miss Tomkinson was at home in Partington, Greater Manchester, when police called her late at night to say her fiance had suffered fatal injuries when an Audi S3 hatchback he was a passenger in lost control on black ice and ploughed into a tree. Pictured, the couple together
In a statement Miss Tomkinson and Mr Bright’s family condemned the Audi driver Michael Pullan (pictured right, with Mr Bright), 29, for his ‘selfishness’ as he was jailed for three years and nine months after admitting causing death by dangerous driving
‘Alfie sits crying for his daddy, he now hides in his den with a picture of his daddy on it and he kisses his daddy’s ashes before bed.
‘We’ve talked about heaven and where daddy is now and its so wrong to have to talk to him about his daddy not coming home. It breaks my heart.
‘Alfie and his daddy were inseparable and best buddies. He says his daddy is a superhero because he can see him from heaven. Mr Pullan’s speeding has ruined so many lives. I miss seeing my son smile the way he smiled at his daddy.’
Pullan, Mr Bright and a third friend, Lewis Ball, were out at pubs in Partington and Warburton before the crash at 11.10pm on December 11, 2019.
After the friends left the Black Swan pub, Pullan who worked as a mechanic for Audi, offered the two men a lift home.
Pullan (pictured), Mr Bright and a third friend, Lewis Ball, were out at pubs in Partington and Warburton before the crash at 11.10pm on December 11, 2019
As he was about to drop off Mr Bright, who was a keen motocross rider, the car slewed out of control at a bend on a country lane.
The car hit the kerb, a lamppost and a tree before coming to rest in a field. Mr Bright, who was in the back seat of the car, suffered fatal injuries and died at the scene.
Mr Bell, who was in the front passenger seat of the car, suffered four fractured vertebrae and injuries to his lung. He had to wear a back brace for six months.
In her statement Miss Tomkinson added: ‘I was stood at the window waiting for Daryl to pull up outside as I knew something was wrong when he was late home. Then I received a call which changed my life forever.
‘My heart was pounding out of my chest and my legs were like jelly when I drove to the scene. I could see hundreds of blue lights there and they tried to tell me he’s not made it.
Mr Bell (pictured left, with Mr Bright), who was in the front passenger seat of the car, suffered four fractured vertebrae and injuries to his lung. He had to wear a back brace for six months
The car hit the kerb, a lamp-post and a tree before coming to rest in a field. Mr Bright (pictured), who was in the back seat of the car, suffered fatal injuries and died at the scene
‘I kissed him and begged him to wake up but I had his blood on my hands under my finger nails and it was all over him and me.
‘I couldn’t believe that my beautiful loving soulmate had gone. I have beautiful memories of him but they are still overshadowed by the images of seeing his beautiful face hurt and him lying in that field.’
Pullan, from Partington, suffered 20 cracked ribs, two punctured lungs, a broken collar bone and a broken shoulder blade. He was not breath tested due to his injuries but later told police he drank two pints of shandy in the run-up to the crash.
David Lees, prosecuting, said no one witnessed the crash itself but investigations showed the Audi was travelling in excess of 60mph in the 40mph zone.
Mr Bell, 27, who can recall little of the crash, said in a statement: ‘I’m saddened Mr Pullan who we considered a friend has shown no remorse.
‘I’m shocked of his lack of acknowledgement or compassion and when I saw him in hospital, he never asked how I was or acknowledge what happened to Daryl.
‘He just continued to watch the TV and not engage with us, only speaking for himself with no questions.
‘We will do all we can to keep Daryl’s memory alive so Alfie will always know who is daddy was.’
Mr Bell, 27, who can recall little of the crash, said in a statement: ‘I’m saddened Mr Pullan who we considered a friend has shown no remorse.’ Pictured, Mr Bright
In mitigation for Pullan, defence counsel Tom Gent said: ‘He is desperately sorry for his foolishness and the terrible consequences of it. He has been utterly devastated and there isn’t a day or night that he doesn’t think about what happened and the affect it’s had on those close to Mr Bright.
‘This was a brief but very poor piece of driving with desperately tragic consequences. His ability to drive wasn’t affected by alcohol – he just drove too fast for the conditions. He wishes he was sometimes dead.’
Sentencing Judge Bernadette Baxter told Pullan: ‘This is a truly tragic case for all involved, which began as three friends out for a pleasant evening together and ended with the loss of one very precious life and lifelong damage to many others.
‘The ramifications will go on long, long beyond this date and no sentence I can impose will restore that loss or repair that damage. As you know only too well, speed claims and ruins lives and you were travelling far too fast for the road conditions.
‘While I can understand that the family of the deceased do not see remorse from you, because they have had no contact, I am satisfied that you are genuinely remorseful and struggling to cope with the enormity of what it is you are responsible for. You are essentially a decent member of society, but you must go to prison for this criminal wrongdoing.’
Pullan was also given a three-year driving ban which will start when he is freed from jail.
