After attending his own father's funeral, a British man lost his life in a car accident when his cousin, who was under the influence of alcohol and drugs, crashed their Mercedes into a lamppost on the way home.
According to Wales Online, Michael Stock lost control of his car, which clipped parked vehicles before spinning across the road, demolishing bollards, a lamppost, and a bus shelter, before 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 crash and spent three months in the hospital.
The news outlet further reported that 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 in Wales heard that Stock wished he had been the one killed in the crash and his cousin, whom he described as being like his brother, had survived.
Jade, Mr. Heaven's daughter, recalled her father as her "first love, best friend, and the person who made me smile" during difficult times.
When Michael Stock entered the courtroom for sentencing, he had earlier entered a guilty plea to causing death by reckless driving. He had been convicted once before for an unrelated offence.
