Drink driver Adam Kershaw jailed for killing man on his birthday Published duration 31 December 2019

image copyright North Yorkshire Police image caption Adam Kershaw "effectively drove over" the Peugeot 107 on the A65 near Ingleton

A drink driver who killed a man on his 28th birthday in what a judge described as "the worst case of dangerous driving" he had seen has been jailed.

Adam Kershaw, 29, drove his van erratically for more than 20 miles before crashing into a Peugeot 107 on the A65 in North Yorkshire.

Joseph Keane, who was returning from a surprise birthday trip with his girlfriend, died in the crash.

Bradford Crown Court heard Kershaw was nearly three times over the limit.

The father-of-two had been seen swerving across the road into the path of oncoming vehicles, hitting a stone bridge and narrowly avoiding a collision with a coach containing 60 schoolchildren during his journey in July 2018.

image copyright PA Media image caption Joseph Keane's family described him as a "beautiful, caring young man"

Kershaw, who pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving at a previous hearing, was jailed for nine years.

Sentencing him, Judge Jonathan Rose said: "I find this case to be the worst case of dangerous driving it has been my misfortune to come across."

Kershaw was travelling from his home in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, to the Beat-Herder Festival in Sawley, Lancashire, on 13 July after spending the previous night drinking and taking ketamine with friends.

He did not have a licence to drive the van, which he had crudely converted into an "unsafe" camper van with no restraints for the driver or rear passengers, and his insurance was not valid.

Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, told the court that a number of other road users called 999 to report Kershaw's driving.

image copyright North Yorkshire Police image caption The only seating in the back of the van for passengers was a sideways-facing sofa, the court was told

The court heard he ignored his passengers' panic and pleas to stop and "didn't seem to care".

Kershaw's van was on the wrong side of the road when he crashed into the Peugeot, driven by Mr Keane's girlfriend Alyssa Henderson. He had tipped the van on to two wheels after taking a corner at speed, before its full weight dropped on to the car, crushing it and effectively driving over it.

The court heard Kershaw's friend Shane Hughes had been driving a "decommissioned" ambulance in convoy with him and Miss Henderson suffered by seeing what she thought was an ambulance turn up while her boyfriend was still alive.

Hughes went on to crash the "ambulance" on to a railway level crossing and was jailed for 22 months in 2018.

Imran Khan, mitigating for father-of-two Kershaw, said the defendant was "disgusted" about what he had done and had stopped both driving and drinking since the collision.