A MUM has been sentenced to prison after murdering her partner in a horrific car accident while driving to obtain drugs during a family vacation at Center Parcs.
Demi-Elise Michaud, 25, was driving her father’s Kia Ceed when she crashed into a bridge at 60 mph. The force of the collision was so severe it tore the car in two.
Matthew Brown, the father of Michaud’s youngest child, was ejected from the vehicle and died instantaneously in the November 27 2019 crash.
The offender, of Blawith, Ulverston, appeared in Preston Crown Court today to be sentenced after admitting to causing death by careless driving.
According to Lancs Live, prosecutor Paul Cummings told the court that Mr Brown and Michaud were on a family vacation in Penrith, Cumbria, with their two children and the defendant’s parents.
But, late that night, the couple went to acquire drugs, leaving the children in the care of their grandparents.
Michaud lost control of her automobile while driving on the rural A590 between the Lake District towns of Backbarrow and Haverthwaite.
Mr Brown was wearing a seatbelt, but the force of the impact snapped it, and he was ejected from the car, landing “some distance” away.
At 1.20 a.m., cops travelling down the damp and poorly illuminated road discovered the “scene of carnage.”
“I lost attention and hit a wall,” Michaud explained.
Alcohol tests revealed that she had ingested some alcohol but was not above the legal limit. The crash was not caused by drugs.
“It is recognised that her speed was a contributing element,” Mr Cummings added.
“It’s conceivable she mistaken a layby for the beginning of the dual carriageway, which may have led to her error.”
Defending attorney Oliver Jarvis stated that Michaud had been in a relationship with Mr Brown since her oldest kid was born. The couple had a second kid, who was six months old at the time of the accident.
“I cannot lose sight of the fact that this offence resulted in the loss of a life,” Judge Robert Altham said in sentencing Michaud to 14 months in prison.
Mr Brown’s family paid tribute to him after the tragedy.
They said: “Matthew was a loving son, grandson and brother.
