A drink-driver, who filmed himself on his mobile phone at the wheel talking about how he was ‘smashed’ before causing a fatal collision, has had his jail sentence increased.
Anton Hull has had his sentence increased after the Crown Prosecution Service referred the case to the Attorney General’s Office on behalf of Avon and Somerset Police as an unduly lenient sentence.
The 22-year-old was driving a Ford Transit home to Galhampton in August 2022 when his van collided with a Volkswagen car being driven by Sarah Baker.
Sarah, aged 29 and pictured below, was critically injured and tragically died at the scene near Wincanton. Her family said her death has ‘left a gaping hole in our hearts’, describing Hull’s actions as ‘utterly selfish’.
Hull was sentenced in November to six years in prison and received a nine-year driving disqualification after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving. But both were quashed and replaced with longer sentences following an appeal heard in London today (Wednesday 14 February).
He today received a new sentence of nine years and three months imprisonment, as well as a driving disqualification of 12 years and two months.
Officer in the case, Dai Nicholas, said upon Hull’s original sentencing: “My heart goes out to the family of Sarah Baker. She was only 29 years old and had her whole life ahead of her before it was cruelly snatched away in this tragic incident.
“Anton Hull made a conscious decision to drive to the pub. He made a conscious decision to drink lager and rum. He then made a catastrophic conscious decision to drive home, when he was clearly unfit to. That he filmed himself on his own phone just increased the level of risk even more.”
