Hit-and-run driver killed woman motorist, 38, while banned for the EIGHTH time

A hit and run driver who killed a barmaid while 'driving like an idiot' was banned for the eighth time when the deadly crash happened.
Stephen Palmer, 28, was speeding when he lost control on a bend and crashed into Louise Clark's oncoming Audi TT.
The collision left Miss Clark, 38, trapped inside her vehicle with broken legs and a serious brain injury.
She was rushed to hospital by air ambulance but her life support machine was switched off more than a week after the smash on December 30 last year.

Jailed: Stephen Palmer, left, was jailed for five-and-a-half years for killing barmaid Louise Clark, right, while banned from driving for the eighth time

Palmer, who the court heard had an 'appalling' driving record, had a previous dangerous driving conviction after he crashed his vehicle through the front of a house and into a pensioner's living room during a police chase.
He also had convictions for drink driving, driving while disqualified and without a licence and insurance and aggravated vehicle taking.
He was jailed for five-and-a-half years at Isleworth Crown Court yesterday.


Judge John Dennis told Palmer: 'There was no attempt to go to Miss Clark with succour or call the emergency services and your driving record is appalling.
'You have heard about the devastating effect your driving had on that family.
'She was a gregarious young woman, deeply loved by those that knew her.'
Palmer had borrowed a pal's blue Honda Civic hire car and was seen tailgating another vehicle and overtaking it at speed moments before he crashed into Miss Clark in Uxbridge.

Loss: Louise Clark's family described her as family orientated who loved life and loved her family

She was cut from the wreckage by the fire brigade and rushed by air ambulance to St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, but her life support machine was switched off on January 8 after she suffered numerous strokes.
Prosecutor Paul Cavin said witness James Baker was following the speeding Palmer along the unlit semi-rural road, which has several dips and humps, and told police: 'It (the car) overtook as it crested one of the humps and was either all or almost all on the wrong side of the road.
'It continued driving fast and continued out of sight. I thought he was driving like an idiot.'
Moments later Mr Baker arrived at the crash scene, but Palmer had fled.
Police found Palmer's DNA from blood on Miss Clark's driver-side door and he gave himself up the day Miss Clark died.
Mr Cavin added: 'He must have been travelling well in excess of the speed limit, despite warning signs, plus a warning side of a double bend and 'slow' written on the tarmac.'
Well-traveled Miss Clark, of Ickenham, Greater London, had visited 50 countries, worked at a Harefield bar and had two younger brothers.
In a victim impact statement Miss Clark's mother Beryl said: 'Losing a daughter in such a callous and devastating way has taken away her life and our lives.
'Louise was a very family-orientated daughter, who loved life and loved her family. Everyday is unbearable, but you carry on. You have to.
'We will never see her married or see her children or the grandchildren she would have given us.'
Beryl described the 'nine agonising days' her daughter clung to life saying: 'Every day the doctors gave us a glimmer of hope and then took it away.
'A future without her scares me. We are left with a deep ache of emptiness without her. That will for ever break our hearts.'

'She was a gregarious young woman, deeply loved by those that knew her. There was no attempt to go to Miss Clark with succour or call the emergency services and your driving record is appalling.'

Judge John Dennis

Defending Palmer, Selwyn Shapiro said: 'The defendant didn't intend to cause death or serious injury. This was a catastrophic misjudgment case.'
Sentencing Palmer, Judge Dennis said: 'Mercifully she was unconscious and was so immediately after the collision.
'The impact was avoidable and was caused by your dangerous driving.
'You have never had a driving licence and have committed offences after offences of driving dangerously or disqualified and have been sent to prison for it.'
Palmer was also disqualified for six years and ordered him to pass an extended driving test before he is ever granted a licence.
He had pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and causing death while disqualified and uninsured.

Sentenced: Palmer was jailed for five-and-a-half years at Isleworth Crown Court

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