A driver who killed a university student when he hit her as she crossed the road has avoided being slapped with a prison sentence.
Daniel Shepherd struck Chloe Hufton with an Audi A5 he was driving as the 26-year-old victim was crossing a busy road.
The judge who sentenced the 36-year-old defendant this week in court revealed how he physically wept when he read the hugely emotional victim impact statement made by Chloe’s mother.
In it, Rachel Liffen, Chloe's mum, told how her adored daughter’s life had been taken by “a remorseless man” and that she was “drowning in grief”.
Sentencing Shepherd to a 12-month community order, Recorder Simon King said: “What you did was an act the prosecution accept involved a momentary lack of concentration. It was not something done out of an act of wickedness, it was simply a case of someone who was not driving as carefully as they should have been.
“Sadly, it had appalling and tragic consequences taking Chloe’s life and destroying the lives of those around her. When I first read the statement, I wept and I am sure the others that heard Mrs Liffen read that today would have been affected quite substantially including, I suspect, you.”
Following a three-day trial at Derby Crown Court, a jury took almost five hours to find the defendant guilty of causing Chloe’s death by careless driving. During it, prosecutor Dan Bishop told how the incident happened at 6.20pm, on November 30, 2018, report Derbyshire Live.
He said Shepherd was travelling towards Allestree when he struck Chloe as she walked over a pedestrian crossing. The prosecutor said she struck the windscreen and was thrown in the air.
Shepherd told the jury that Chloe “ran out in front of the car” and he did not have time to stop before hitting her. He said if he had have seen her he would have stopped. The defendant blew a negative reading for alcohol, he was not speeding and there were no faults on the vehicle.
Following the crash the defendant, of Larch Close, was arrested and charged over the tragedy. Police also found a knife inside a cuddly toy when they searched his car at the scene.
Mrs Liffen, Chloe’s mother, fought back tears as she bravely read her own victim impact statement at Derby Crown Court.
In it she said: “I am drowning with grief, with loss, I am carrying smiling while I am slowly dying inside. Without her there is only half of me here, I am half a whole desperately trying to cling on.
“Losing a soul as rare as Chloe is going to make life difficult, there are few people in this world that can tough your soul. Chloe was one of those people.
“Chloe did not just stand out to me, she stood out to every single person she met, she shone, she had a lust for life. She did not turn away from anyone, she chose to absorb their knowledge, Chloe was the one who smiled first.
“She was standing on the precipice of a fantastic career, she wanted to embrace life, she was enamoured by knowledge, her passion in life was education. Chloe lit up a room, she lit up my life, she was my rainbow. It was three years ago but it feels like three seconds.”
Mrs Liffen said she had forged a successful career working for Costa for 10 years, becoming a site manager and carrying our charity work. But since her daughter’s death it became “impossible” for her to carry on in her role.
Mrs Liffen said: “I now work in a small corner shop working a few hours. It is enough, it is all I can manage. Both David (her partner) and I I just want one thing and that is to have the person who did this to admit it and to beg for forgiveness. But when confronted by Daniel Shepherd all we see is how our child’s life has been taken by a remorseless man.”
Kevin Waddingham, mitigating, said Shepherd has suffered post traumatic stress disorder himself as a result of the incident. An earlier inquest into Chloe’s death heard that she died at the scene. She had been studying for a master’s degree in English and planned to become a teacher.
Her funeral took place at Markeaton Crematorium on New Year’s Eve, 2018, when her body was taken to the service from the university’s Kedleston Road campus in a rainbow-coloured carriage pulled by four white horses. Chloe’s partner, Kimberley Reilly, has also previously paid tribute to her.
She said: “I feel so sorry for Chloe having her life taken so soon. She is the most beautiful girl in the world and she gave me the happiest days of my life.
“I’m sorry we didn’t get to fulfil all our plans and goals together. She’s left a void no one can fill. I love her and miss her every day.”
As part of the community order Shepherd must carry out 120 hours unpaid work and attend 20 rehabilitations sessions. He was also disqualified from driving for a year.
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