A mum has shared how her beloved son was killed by a hit and run driver just minutes after she took a picture of him ready for his first night out and uploaded the snap to Facebook.
Liam Simpson was just 18 when he was mowed down by reckless driver Daniel Beck, now 34. Beck fled the scene and checked into hospital for his own injuries, but Liam was tragically killed instantly by 'catastrophic' injuries.
Just 15 minutes earlier, loving mum Vicky Simpson, 41, had taken a picture of her boy on his way out to celebrate his friend's 18th birthday. Vicky remembers making sure Liam got his hair cut and helping him pick out an outfit for the big night, before proudly taking pictures of him. But by the time she had uploaded them, Liam had been killed.
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Beck presented at Arrowe Park Hospital, Merseyside, for treatment on his own injuries, but was found three days later and remanded in custody. In December 2018 he appeared before Mold Crown Court and pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, driving without a licence and without insurance where he was handed an eight-year jail term.
The devastated family have now found out that Beck – who has only served four years behind bars – is being released on licence in December 2022.
Mum of five, Vicky, said: "Liam was the kindest soul and loved by everyone. We had the best day before he went out – I cooked his favourite tea, spaghetti Bolognese, to make sure he'd lined his stomach.
“I made sure to get his hair cut and picked out some clothes for him as he mainly had sports clothes. And before he left, I made him stand for some pictures because he looked so lovely. Little did I know those would be the last ever pictures of him.
"As soon as I uploaded them to Facebook, he was already gone. Beck will be able to go about, live his life and go back to his family but my baby will never come home.”
Liam, an avid football fan, had just started playing for Holywell Town F.C. when he was due to go on a night out for his friend, Kiran Creedy's, 18th birthday. The young lad was reluctant to go out as he “wasn’t much of a drinker” and had a match on the next day.
But after some convincing from mum Vicky and her partner Mike, 38, a bricklayer, Liam decided to join his mates for the night out on 30th September 2017.
Vicky said: "It was hard to let him go on the night out only because I had the usual motherly worries, I never thought that would be the last time I'd see him.
"He'd been reluctant to go because he had a football match the next day but me and my partner, Mike had convinced him. We wanted to go have some fun.
"We're the kind of family who doesn't leave a room without saying ''I love you'' and the last thing he said to me was ''I love you, mum, don't worry about me, I'll see you in the morning'. I never thought that was the last time I'd see him."
Liam left the house around 6.30pm that night. By 6.45pm he was run down by Beck at a speed between 59 mph to 61 mph on a road with a 30-mph speed limit. Doctors said the teenager suffered devastating injuries and would have been killed instantly.
Mike and Vicky 'caught wind' of something happening in the area, and Mike left to find out more. He was escorted back to the house by police officers, and forced to tell Vicky her son had passed away.
"I couldn't believe it because ''passed'' sounded so formal and surely it couldn't be about my Liam," Vicky said. "But when the police officer confirmed it, it was the worst news any parent could receive. That night I laid in Liam's bed and sobbed all night- I didn't sleep a wink."
Vicky had to identify Liam's body while 16 weeks pregnant. She said: ''That day will haunt me forever. I still have flashbacks and will never be able to unsee his lifeless body on that trolley in the morgue. It was the most horrific thing I have ever had to do.''
Beck was arrested three days later and after refusing to comment he claimed he was driving within the speed limit and had no recollection of running away. Daniel Beck, then 29, of Y Gerddi, Maes Pennant, Mostyn, admitted causing death by dangerous driving, driving without a licence and without insurance in December 2018.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison at Mold Crown Court and banned from driving for an extended period of nine years. Beck's barrister Simon Parry said: “He is genuinely and deeply sorry for the damage he has done.”
This year Vicky has been notified through the Ministry of Justice victim contact scheme that Beck -who is only halfway through his sentence - will be released on licence the week commencing 12 December of this year.
If he does not adhere to the licence conditions, he can be recalled back to custody. The mum-of-five called the news 'devastating'.
"He was on licence when he killed Liam - what's stopping him taking another precious life?," she asked. "I had Liam when I was 17 years old, so we had an extremely close bond.
"He always helped me out with his younger brothers, Jack, 21, Max, 15, Jace, 10 and Owen, four. He's the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing at night. His memory still lives on in all of us and I'm determined to keep talking about him.
"Beck being released does not mean that he's forgotten, he never can be. I will never stop talking about him because I love him more and more every day. I take comfort in that when I go, he'll be waiting for me."
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