A DRINK driver who killed a Gwent Police community support officer after crashing into him at nearly 120mph was jailed for four and a half years.

Paul Wilson, 38, was driving his Audi on the A465 near Abergavenny at 12.22am on August 23 last year when he hit Alwyn Pritchard, who was returning home to Nantyglo after a shift in Usk on his scooter.

The lorry driver, of Nant Melyn, Rassau, was nearly 50 per cent over the drink drive limit when his bonnet crashed into Mr Pritchard, who was catapulted 131 metres after being hit and died instantly on the road between Llanfoist and Gilwern.

Wilson fled the scene after the crash, leaving a passenger he was carrying in his car to be breathalysed and ignored calls to his mobile phone from police. Some seven hours after the crash, he attended Abergavenny Police Station, where he was arrested.

He had pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, failing to stop at the scene of an accident and driving while above the alcohol limit at a hearing earlier this month.

In a statement from Mr Pritchard’s daughter Carly read out at Cardiff Crown Court, details of her and her family’s grief was detailed. Mr Pritchard and his wife were due to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary but she has had to take antidepressants to cope with his death.

Ms Pritchard said: “My life will never be the same. I will never be the same. My family will never be the same.

“The loss of a father is a terrible burden to shoulder. Dad was still young – 53. He had a profound impact on the lives of everyone he touched. The hardest part about accepting Dad’s death is the knowledge that it was avoidable. Dad is dead because a choice was made – a choice that Paul Wilson made to drive dangerously at an excessive speed whilst intoxicated and also leaving the scene. The consequences of his actions have forever changed my life as well as my family's.

“Whatever the sentence handed to Mr Wilson, it will not bring our father back and it will not go anywhere near or compensate the life or pain caused to me and my family. The sentence will have an ‘end date’ and Wilson’s life will continue. We have been handed a life sentence – a sentence of grief, regret, guilt, pain, loss and heartache. Whatever the outcome, my family and I have been dealt the harshest sentence.”

In mitigation, David Webster said anything he could say was “bound to seem to add insult to injury” to Mr Pritchard’s family, but that Wilson had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity in an attempt to atone to what he had done.

Judge Tom Crowther told Wilson he thought it “perfectly likely that you were trying to impress your passenger” as he grossly exceeded the speed limit on roads around Abergavenny.

He handed down a sentence of four and a half years for causing death by dangerous driving. Others of four months for driving while above the alcohol limit and failing to stop at the scene will run concurrently to the first sentence.

Gwent Police’s Inspector Martyn Smith said: “Paul Wilson was driving at excessive speed and under the influence of alcohol when he caused a fatal collision in August last year which killed CSO Alwyn Pritchard.

“Wilson didn’t stop at the scene of the collision, and during the investigation attempted to evade police by failing to answer bail. His complete disregard for the law and his lack of responsibility led to Alwyn’s tragic death.

“Alwyn was a committed, kind and conscientious community support officer and was a valuable part of Usk Neighbourhood Policing Team. He is sadly missed by the force, his colleagues and of course the community.

“Our thoughts remain with Alwyn’s family at this difficult time.”