A BUILDER who was “too drunk to stand” drove his van into motorway roadworks and killed a highways worker who’d only left his vehicle seven seconds earlier.
Vilius Domarkas had just flown home into Stansted Airport from his native Lithuania, where he had been in rehab for his drinking problem, when he ploughed into “gentle giant” Anthony Howe on the M23 southbound on July 8, killing him instantly.
Domarkas was “between three and four times” over the alcohol limit when his Citroen Relay van hit Mr Howe – which the driver didn’t even notice when he called 999 and told them his windscreen was broken.
The 38-year-old, who had just split from his wife, had been seen driving “erratically” and drifting between lanes in the moments before he hit and killed 65-year-old Anthony Howe from Kent, who was still holding the door handle of his van.
His van only came to a halt 500 metres after the crash because of an automatic fuel-cut-off triggered by the damage caused to the vehicle, prosecutor Naomi Edwards told Lewes Crown Court.
She said that Domarkas had then called police and told them his windscreen was broken but did not know how it happened.
The prosecutor added that when police arrived, his speech was slurred and he was so unsteady on his feet that he fell over.
A blood sample test he provided four hours after the crash showed he was over the legal limit for alcohol, with 221 microgrammes (ug) per 100 millilitres (ml) of blood.
The legal limit is 80ug of alcohol per 100ml of blood but the court was told that back calculations suggested he was between three and four times the limit at the time of the accident.
Sentencing Domarkas, who had pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, Judge Martin Huseyin said: “You called 999 but you were so drunk that you didn’t realise that you had hit a person.”
He added: “It’s truly shocking that as a man who was too drunk to stand up, you felt fit to drive on a motorway.”
The judge continued: “Mr Howe was a vulnerable road user, as are all pedestrians, but because of his job and the work he had to carry out on the slip road, that meant he was in an exceptionally vulnerable position.”
He added: “He died of catastrophic injuries, mercifully, he died instantly. Mr Howe’s death has caused a devastating blow to all those around him.”
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Howe’s partner Lilian Bonney said: “My entire world was ripped apart when Tony was killed in a road traffic collision.
“Tony completed me and without him I simply do not feel whole anymore. Tony was an amazing partner, he was a loving, caring man.
“Tony was a gentle giant who could make anyone laugh with his cheeky personality.”
Ms Bonney added that she had trouble sleeping since Mr Howe’s death and said she “often cry myself to sleep”.
She continued: “His future had been taken away in the cruellest way. This defendant made a choice that stole my happy-ever-after.”
Andrew Bullivant, defending, said that Domarkas, a father of two, was “genuinely remorseful” and had informed the Home Office that he intended to return to Lithuania on the completion of his sentence.
He said the defendant was going through a break-up with his wife and had just gone through a period of rehab in Lithuania before flying back to the UK late the previous evening.
