M4 death driver had taken drugs cocktail

Apr 2 2008 by David James, South Wales Echo

A DRIVER has been banned from the road for 20 years after causing a crash which killed a 27-year-old dad.

Paul Stephen Abraham was handed the massive ban and jailed for three years and four months after pleading guilty to careless driving under the influence of drugs.

He was behind the wheel when his Peugeot flipped on the M4, killing rear- seat passenger Eifion Jones, a 27-year-old Cardiff dad of two, and causing two other men serious injuries.

The family of tragic Eifion today spoke of their anger at Abraham for delaying the sentencing for nearly two years by only pleading guilty at the last minute.

Dad David Jones, 52, from Cyncoed, Cardiff, said it was a toxicology report released a month ago that prompted Abraham, 51, of Lansdowne Road, Canton, Cardiff, to plead guilty.

He said: “He’s done everything to squirm out of this. For me, the sentence is academic.

“He’s the kind of man who, if he was on the Titanic, would have scrambled over women and children to get off.”

In a sentencing hearing last week, Bristol Crown Court saw the toxicology report which showed Abraham had been under the influence of a cocktail of prescription drugs, including temazepam and diazepam.

The 51-year-old’s car was the only vehicle involved in the crash, which happened as he was driving to catch a ferry from Portsmouth in June 2006.

He and his three passengers Eifion Jones, Stuart Shahid, 52, of Oakfield Street, Roath, and John Shipton, 61, of Adamsdown, were heading off on a last-minute holiday to Bilbao, Spain.

It is believed Abraham was trying to overtake when he was forced to swerve to avoid a van and his car hit a crash barrier and rolled down an embankment.

Eifion was thrown from the rear window and was found in a nearby field. He was later pronounced dead in hospital.

Stuart Shahid, who was also on the back seat, suffered severe brain damage.

Former Baden Powell Primary and Willows High School pupil Eifion, who loved animals and had kept snakes and an iguana, had been preparing to start a plumbing course at Coleg Glan Hafren, Tremorfa, Cardiff, in September. He had two children, seven-year-old Sophie and five-year-old Ieuan, and siblings Robert, 26, Rhys, 20, Stephanie, 19, and 10-year-old Michaela. His mum Jeanette, 52, who lives in Helen Place, Adamsdown, Cardiff, said he had been a wonderful dad and loved his children.

A spokeswoman for road safety charity Brake said a 20-year sentence was very unusual.

She said: “A life ban is theoretically possible but you rarely see them.

“I’ve never come across a ban of 20 years before.”

david.james@mediawales.co.uk

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