Twenty-three-year-old Dean Collins seriously injured four others when he crashed head-on into another car in Cardiff, Wales.
Witnesses saw Collins, in a borrowed grey Ford Focus, overtaking other motorists and pulling quickly away from traffic lights.
He then drifted across the road into the opposite carriageway and collided head-on with the other vehicle, a court heard.
He caused the death of his partner Laura Bright’s son, Joseph Smith. The youngster was pronounced dead at the scene.
Laura, who sat in the front passenger seat of the car at the time of the tragedy, suffered bleeding in her brain.
Part of a tooth was also found in her windpipe. But despite the crash, she and Collins wed just months later, Wales Online reports.
The pair even posed in their wedding outfits beside Joseph’s grave.
Joseph Smith’s mum and Collins married just months after his death. They posed for photograph by his grave. Photo: WNS
During his trial, Collins said the couple had “kept each other sane” as they grieved for little Joseph following the tragedy.
He said he saw Joseph as his own son.
Collins had passed his driving test just three months before the collision, which took place on September 13, 2015.
Other victims suffered a range of injuries, including fractures to the spine, arms, legs and ribs, memory loss and blindness in one eye.
Collins was seen holding a mobile phone to his ear prior to the smash. He had also taken cocaine.
During Collins’s trial, Cardiff Crown Court heard that Joseph had not been strapped into a booster seat at the time of the crash.
He broke his neck because his seat belt was in the wrong place.
The court was told that the little boy was actually six inches too short to be made to sit without a booster seat.
Janet MacDonald, prosecuting, said: “Joseph suffered serious injuries including broken limbs, fractures to his spine, bleeds to his brain, bruising to his spleen, a perforated bowel, and loss of sight in one eye.”
The child died at the scene of the smash on Western Avenue.
Yesterday (Tuesday), a jury had unanimously convicted Collins of the five charges against him following a five-day trial.
He was found guilty of causing Joseph’s death by dangerous driving and four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
He was sentenced to six years behind bars by Judge Eleri Rees.
The judge told him, ” You demonstrated a cavalier attitude to both your own safety and the safety of others.”
Collins was also disqualified from driving for eight years.
During his trial, Collins said the couple had “kept each other sane” as they grieved for little Joseph following the tragedy.
He said he saw Joseph as his own son.
Collins had passed his driving test just three months before the collision, which took place on September 13, 2015.
Other victims suffered a range of injuries, including fractures to the spine, arms, legs and ribs, memory loss and blindness in one eye.
Collins was seen holding a mobile phone to his ear prior to the smash. He had also taken cocaine.
During Collins’s trial, Cardiff Crown Court heard that Joseph had not been strapped into a booster seat at the time of the crash.
He broke his neck because his seat belt was in the wrong place.
The court was told that the little boy was actually six inches too short to be made to sit without a booster seat.
Janet MacDonald, prosecuting, said: “Joseph suffered serious injuries including broken limbs, fractures to his spine, bleeds to his brain, bruising to his spleen, a perforated bowel, and loss of sight in one eye.”
The child died at the scene of the smash on Western Avenue.
Yesterday (Tuesday), a jury had unanimously convicted Collins of the five charges against him following a five-day trial.
He was found guilty of causing Joseph’s death by dangerous driving and four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
He was sentenced to six years behind bars by Judge Eleri Rees.
The judge told him, ” You demonstrated a cavalier attitude to both your own safety and the safety of others.”
Collins was also disqualified from driving for eight years.
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