The devastated parents of a 17-year-old girl who died after a driver lost control of his car at 100mph shared their heart-wrenching account of arriving first at the scene and attempting to resuscitate their daughter.
Jack Burkhill, 21, who was reportedly intoxicated, lost control of the Hyundai i30 N on a bend in a country road while ‘showing off.’ A court heard that the crash occurred after Burkhill had left a pub where he had been drinking.
Felicity Pacey, a 17-year-old trainee financial adviser and one of three passengers in the car, died at the scene of the crash near the Lincolnshire village of Denton, a few miles from Belvoir Castle, the Duke of Rutland’s ancestral home.
Felicity’s parents were the first to arrive at the scene after her sister Rhiannah—who was Burkhill’s girlfriend at the time and also in the car—called them following the crash.
In court, the heartbroken sibling addressed Burkhill, saying, “If only I had never met you.”
The devastated parents of 17-year-old Felicity Pacey (pictured), who died after a driver lost control at 100mph, recounted their desperate attempt to resuscitate her after arriving first at the scene.
An ‘intoxicated’ Jack Burkhill, 21, lost control of the Hyundai i30 N on a bend in a country road while ‘showing off.’
The location near the Lincolnshire village of Denton where Burkhill lost control of his new car was less than two miles from the pub where he had been drinking that day.
On Friday, Burkhill was sentenced to eight years and three months in prison and disqualified from driving for over nine years.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Helen Pacey, Felicity’s mother, said: “Felicity, Fliss, our beautiful, intelligent, confident, thoughtful, and caring girl who had her life planned out.
“My heart has been ripped out of my chest, stamped on, and put back in.
“I suffer with panic attacks when I think of Felicity not coming home.”
She added: “We were first on the scene and had to start CPR on our child. No parent should ever have to do that.
“Seeing my baby girl lying on that verge, that lifeless body. I replay it every time I pass that scene.”
Mrs. Pacey told Burkhill: “The last words I said to her were, ‘Have fun,’ and she said, ‘We will.’ Those words will haunt me to eternity.
“You killed our precious girl. You ran from the scene like the coward you are and left us to deal with the consequences.
“The pain you have caused is impossible to put into words. I never thought it possible to shed tears every day. Simple tasks like shopping are daunting. When I go alone, I scream in the car and my tears are uncontrollable.”
Felicity was the youngest of three siblings.
The court heard that Burkhill’s dangerous driving caused the car, which goes from 0-62mph in 5.2 seconds and costs £35,165, to roll on the rural road with a 60mph speed limit.
Felicity was thrown from the vehicle.
In court, Felicity’s mother told Burkhill, “The last words I said to her were, ‘Have fun,’ and she replied, ‘We will.’ Those words will haunt me forever.”
