A BLACKBURN man who admitted causing the death of his partner when he drove after having a large amount of alcohol has been jailed for three years.

Mother-of-four Elizabeth Allen, 27, was killed when the E-reg Austin Montego in which she was a passenger clipped a kerb at high speed.

The car, driven by Jules Stocks, became airborne before crashing down, resulting in fatal head injuries to Ms Allen.

Stocks had been driving at about 50mph in Goose House Lane, Darwen, which has a 30mph speed limit, Preston Crown Court heard.

Chris Hudson, prosecuting, said: "It appears that neither driver nor passenger was wearing seat belts."

He said that empty and full bottles of beer had been found in the car, as well as a bottle of spirits.

Stocks, 25, of Dickinson Close, Blackburn, stated that the beer and spirits in the car belonged to his brother.

The crash happened at 6.30am on July 30 last year, as the couple returned from Stocks' brother's house.

Mr Hudson said that the road was wet but that there was good visibility. Stocks, arrested after he was released from hospital, told police he had had his last drink at about 2am and that he and his partner were getting home so they could see the children before they went to school.

Kath Johnson, defending, asked: "The children have lost their mother. Do they need to lose their father?"

She said that Stocks still found it difficult to get into a car.

The children will stay with the deceased's sister while Stocks is detained.

"He will feel the effects of that morning for the rest of his life," said Miss Johnson.

Judge Peter Smith called it "a tragic case."

"You do not have a bad driving record at all," he said.

He said that the sentence he passed "doesn't measure in any way the value of human life."

Stocks was jailed for three years for causing the death of Elizabeth Allen by driving without due care or attention while unfit to drive through drink or drugs.

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