A Devonshire man will be sentenced this morning for causing a fatal 2023 collision that claimed the life of a mother-of-two.

Daniel Tucker, 37, pleaded guilty in September to causing the death of Lovella Cruz, a 48-year-old guest worker, by driving while impaired by alcohol.

During a hearing yesterday, Daniel Kitson-Walters, for the Crown, called for a sentence of five years behind bars, noting that Tucker had a blood-alcohol level more than double the legal limit.

Mr Kitson-Walters also told the Supreme Court that Tucker was previously convicted of refusing a breath test in 2018 and did not have a valid driving licence at the time of the collision.

However, Marc Daniels, the defence counsel in the case, argued that the sentence could be partially suspended given the delay in bringing Tucker to court.

Mr Daniels said that while Tucker accepted responsibility early in the process, the case had hung over the defendant’s head for more than two years.

The court earlier heard that at about 10.50pm on November 9, 2023, Tucker and Ms Cruz were involved in a head-on collision on Somerset Road in Sandys.

The court heard that Tucker was driving a car west near Cricket Lane when he veered fully into the eastbound lane, striking Ms Cruz who was riding east on a motorcycle.

Ms Cruz suffered a broken spine, broken ribs, a fractured skull and a shattered femur and died from her injuries.

Tucker told officers on the scene that he was driving in his lane at a reasonable speed when the motorcycle had appeared out of nowhere but the officers noticed that his eyes were glazed and he smelled of alcohol.

He admitted to the officers that he had drunk three Planter’s Punches that evening and he provided breath samples which showed he was more than double the legal blood-alcohol limit.

Ms Cruz was a guest worker from the Philippines who came to the island in 2018 and was employed as a cleaner before becoming a caregiver working with terminally ill people.

Counsel for both the Crown and the defence made final submissions on sentencing yesterday, with both sides stating that a five-year sentence would be appropriate.

Mr Kitson-Walters said that Tucker provided two breath samples in the hours after the collision with the lowest showing 198 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood — more than double the legal limit of 80 milligrams.

He said that the collision took place entirely in Ms Cruz’s lane and that there was no evidence to suggest Tucker had done anything to avoid the collision or slow down until after the impact.

Mr Kitson-Walters said Ms Cruz did attempt to avoid the collision but was so near the side of the road, she had almost no room.

He also noted that Tucker should not have been driving at all because he had no driver’s licence, and that he had a previous conviction for an alcohol-related traffic offence from an incident in October 2018.

The court heard Tucker pleaded guilty to refusing to provide a breath test and was subsequently fined $1,000 and banned from driving for 18 months.

Mr Daniels said that Tucker himself had brought the previous conviction to the court’s attention in a pre-sentencing report, showing his remorse and integrity.

He said that for the past two years, Tucker’s life had been in a “holding pattern”, unable to pursue opportunities overseas and argued that the Crown could have moved forward with the case far sooner.

Mr Daniels said: “You have an accident, the vehicle was on the wrong side of the road.

“You don’t need an accident reconstruction expert to tell you that the collision took place where it took place.”

He also told the court that Tucker had become a caregiver for his ageing father, arguing that all the circumstances meant it was an appropriate case to partially suspend the term of imprisonment.

Puisne Judge Alan Richards said he would consider the submissions and deliver a sentence this morning.

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