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Kirk Butcher was described by his family as a “fun-loving husband” who adored his three daughters
A van driver who drove the wrong way down a motorway slip road, killing a father of three in a head-on crash, has been jailed.
Thomas Hughes, 24, was trying to take his own life when he drove on to the M4 at Newport, hitting Kirk Butcher’s car on 5 April.
Mr Butcher, 45, was killed instantly.
Hughes, from Cwmbran, pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court to causing death by dangerous driving and was sentenced to seven years.
The court heard how Hughes had been released from police custody, and had driven towards the M4 after being told by his flatmate he was not welcome back.
It was told he was trying to take his own life when he drove the wrong way down the slip road.
But the van he was driving crashed into Mr Butcher’s car, who was on his way home from a 12-hour shift at a supermarket depot where he had started working during the coronavirus pandemic.
Hughes left the scene of the crash, and another driver called 999.In a victim impact statement, Mr Butcher’s widow Janet told the court the couple had been “childhood sweethearts, soulmates who dreamed of getting old together”.
She said “nothing in our lives will be the same” following her husband’s death.
Sentencing Hughes, Judge Richard Twomlow said he “gave Mr Butcher no chance to avoid you”.
“This was an unbelievably dangerous piece of driving with no thought for anyone but yourself,” he said.
“The consequences for others were quite terrible.”Hughes was also banned from driving for eight and a half years.