Dad sobbed 'I killed my son' after crashing car with boy, 8, inside while he was high on drugs | The Sun

A DAD sobbed "I killed my son" after he crashed his car while 13-and-a-half times the drug-drive limit.

Leon Clarke, 40, had picked up eight-year-old Blake and his younger brother, then aged six, for an access visit when the horror unfolded.

The delivery driver was speeding at 76mph in severe wet weather when his BMW aquaplaned as he switched lanes and smashed into a truck parked on the hard shoulder.

Little Blake, who was sitting in the back, was declared dead an hour later after being rushed to hospital.

His dad was seen holding the youngster in his arms at the side of the M60 near Stockport, sobbing: "I've killed my son".

When he was arrested, Clarke asked officers: "Is he dead? Please?''

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Miraculously, his younger son managed to escape with just minor injuries to his arm.

Clarke has now been jailed for four years after he admitted causing death whilst driving without insurance.

The "frequent" cocaine user, who also pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving whilst over the drug driving limit.

Blake's mum Victoria Consterdine, who was at work at the time of the crash, sobbed as she read out a powerful victim impact statement.

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She said: "For me, my life is over and I exist now only for Mason. I live in a continuous nightmare which I am yet to wake up from and this will continue for the rest of my life.

''All our lives have changed forever now we no longer have our sweet precious boy. We just adored him in every single way – he was our life and when he was killed, our hearts, minds and souls all went with him.''

The heartbroken mum continued: "The pain we feel is suffocating and all this torture continues because of you.

"That day Blake and Mason didn't get a choice or a chance after they left their nanna's. That choice was made for them by you and we are now left to live this life in devastation and pain which is beyond any repair.

''What you chose to do as a supposedly responsible parent and adult means I will never be able to see my son again and it is destroying every inch of me. I wasn't there to protect them both from you. I wasn't there when my boys needed me.''

Minshull Street Crown Court heard how on February 28, 2020, the boys had spent the day with their grandparents before Clarke collected them.

Both boys were wearing seatbelts but neither were strapped into child booster seats during thejourney.

'I'VE KILLED MY SON'

Clarke passed several warning signs as he travelled on the motorway in heavy rain in his BMW, which had deflated and worn rear tyres and was not insured.

He then lost control of the vehicle in a large pool of water – causing the car to spin 180 degrees across three lanes of traffic.

It then ploughed rear first in the highways maintenance truck on the hard shoulder – causing two inspectors in the cabin to pass out after slamming into the windscreen.

Robin Kitching, prosecuting, said: "'The defendant was seen running around in a state of panic and then holding Blake saying: 'I've killed my son''.

"Police spoke to him as the scene and he was described as very upset.

''A roadside breath test proved negative but a test for drugs was positive. As this was being done, a member of the ambulance service said Blake had died and the defendant was totally distraught by the news.

''When arrested and cautioned he replied: 'Is he dead? Please?' before breaking down in tears.''

The drug test revealed Clarke had 680 micrograms of the main metabolite of cocaine, Benzoylecgonine (BZE) in 100 millilitres of blood – the legal limit being 50mg.

He admitted he had taken 0.5g of cocaine the previous evening but said he felt he was fit to drive.

In mitigation, lawyer Phillip Barnes said Clarke will "forever have the ghost of his son on his shoulder".

In a statement Blake's grandmother Christine said: ''The day our precious Blake was killed was the worst and most horrendous day of our lives. We all fell to pieces and my daughter was in bits – and I mean bits.

''All our hearts were shattered into tiny pieces and left broken for ever. Blake was the light in her lives, so beautiful so kind so clever and so handsome. His mother is broken without her baby whilst Mason is lost without his big brother and best friend.

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''Blake had so much living to do. He enjoyed life so much and his dad took it all away from him. He wanted to be healthy and always thought about what he ate.

"Then his dad took drugs picked him and his brother up from us and killed him.''

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