Chesterfield mother of Lucy Knowles says her 'life has been destroyed' and she's been ‘put through hell’ since the death of beloved daughter

Kerry Insley, of Chesterfield, said: “Losing a child isn’t something any parent can ever even comprehend, but to lose Lucy in the circumstances in which we have, a situation that could have been avoided, is just devastating.

"Not only have I lost my first-born daughter, but my best friend too.”

William Eade, 19, was behind the wheel of a Skoda on April 2, 2022, when it hit several trees in Harewood Road, Holymoorside, killing passenger Lucy.

Eade, Enfield Road, Newbold, who had passed his driving test in December 2021, pleaded guilty to killing 17-year-old Lucy by careless or inconsiderate driving and was jailed for 10 months at Derby Crown Court on Friday.

Kerry said Lucy was an ‘incredible, positively impactful person, with a vibrant personality’.

She added: “She genuinely touched everyone’s lives that had the pleasure of meeting her."

She said that day to day life was a struggle but she had to continue for the sake of her two other children.

"Having to sit down and tell her nine and 10-year-old brother and sister that she had been involved in a fatal road traffic incident and is not going to survive, trying to explain that although the machines were keeping her alive for the moment, she had no chance of surviving. Explaining that you can’t see her one last time, because her face is so badly injured that they would have nightmares for life. They didn’t get to say goodbye to their cherished older sister, protector, and friend,” she said.

"Recalling the events of being in the hospital room with Lucy, already knowing that she isn’t going to be alive much longer and trying to make the most of every last part of her face, hair, and body, is a memory that will haunt us forever. I have flashbacks of the heart-breaking, soul-destroying image of my poor daughter’s badly cut and bleeding face daily, that’s an image I have to bear for the rest of my life.”

Investigations revealed the car had been travelling at 55 miles per hour at the moment of impact, whereas most motorists typically took the bend at 20-25 mph.

Lucy, who worked as a pre-school assistant at Newbold Parish Pre School, was sitting behind the driver's seat and suffered a serious head injury and died in hospital three days later. Eade was knocked unconscious, while the other two passengers sustained lesser injuries.

Kerry said: “She made the unfortunate decision to sit in that seat that day. It could have been any one of them. He thought that his experience of less than 365 days of being a road user meant he had the ability to drive carelessly and recklessly around unlit bends.

"He chose to put himself and all his friends lives in danger through his immaturity and arrogance, which said to himself ‘I own these roads’. Lucy paid the ultimate price. This hasn’t just destroyed Lucy’s life, but all those closest to her as well.”

She added: “One of the most painful things is that Lucy will miss out on so many things in life, she was so excited about turning 18, she died just four months short of her 18th birthday. It’s hard that she won’t ever be able to experience her first legal drink in a pub, that seems minor though, because it’s all the other things she will never get to experience either, she had never even been abroad.

"On the day of Lucy’s 18th birthday, we lit a candle in her cake, which involved four people half heartedly singing Happy Birthday. I think although unspoken, the general feel of the room was, what is the point? It was truly heart-breaking.

“We arranged a party in her memory for her 18th birthday at our local pub, it was especially hard knowing she is only buried a quarter of a mile away in the graveyard.

"That’s another thing I find difficult as I have to pass where she is buried almost daily.

“I have many of Lucy’s friends and their parents on Facebook and this year has been extremely tough watching them post photos of their children turning 18, not only that, but enjoying days out and holidays. It’s painful that I won’t ever be able to make new memories with Lucy, but only live with the ones I’ve got.”

"She would have continued to impact the world for the better for the rest of her life, should it have not been cruelly taken away after just 17 short years. She had an extremely bright future ahead of her,” she said.

The court heard how Eade had been drinking but was not over the legal limit. Cannabis was also found in his system, but this was also below the limit set in law. Eade was also banned from driving for five years. He will serve his driving disqualification on release, and be subject to an extended retest process before being allowed on the roads again.

Judge Nigel Godsmark KC, sentencing Eade, said: “You are not an evil person, you did not mean to cause harm, but you bear the responsibility for her death.”