Mother's plea after son killed by speeding driver

A woman is pleading with people to understand the "endless pain" that speeding can cause, after the death of her son.

Jakki Hartland said she no longer enjoyed life after her son Ross Hartland was killed by a driver who was travelling at 82mph down the A5 in Shenstone, which had a speed limit of 70mph, in July 2022.

The speed was so high that the momentum forced 40-year-old Mr Hartland's car off the road and into a tree, causing it to overturn, police said.

Sean Bee, who was 22 at the time of the collision, pleaded guilty to causing death by driving without due care and attention in October.

The defendant, from Swindon Village near Cheltenham, was sentenced to 16 months in prison at Stafford Crown Court in January and disqualified from driving for 32 months.

Mr Hartland, who was from Walsall, suffered serious head and chest injuries and was rushed to hospital, where he spent 12 days in intensive care before the decision was made to switch his life support machine off.

"Ross was the heartbeat of every social setting he was in. I know it’s a cliche, but he really did light up a room," his mother said.

"He was also incredibly generous, especially with his time, which is particularly cruel when you consider that he didn’t even have that much of it in the end.

"I’d be lying if I said that life was, in any way, good. I walk around with this knife pushed deep into my heart."

Mr Hartland's family have been deeply affected by his death.

One of his nieces was thrown into a panic when she was taking driving lessons, after driving past a roundabout near where he was hit, police said.

His death has left his youngest niece, aged seven, petrified of the road, drivers, and even moderate speed.

And when his mother's phone was chewed by a family dog, she was distraught at the prospect of losing her son's voicemails.

“Thankfully, I managed to get them all back, but I didn’t care what the cost was," she said.

"I could live without money and without a phone, but I couldn’t live without his voice."

Ms Hartland said the death of her son had opened her eyes to how hazardous the road could be, and how even the most careful drivers were not immune to the reckless actions of others.

"It only takes that one person to be unsafe and irresponsible, to disregard the law and to show a complete thoughtlessness and disrespect for everyone else and suddenly you’ve ended one life and destroyed dozens more," she said.

"If I can just reach even one person to alert them, first-hand, to the very real dangers and consequences of speeding, then I hope I am still able to do some good.

"Even in death, I want my son’s life to continue to have meaning."

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