A Devonshire man was sentenced to 4½ years behind bars for causing a 2023 collision that killed 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.

Puisne Judge Alan Richards said this morning that the matter was a sad case which left two families suffering the tragic consequences of a series of bad decisions.

He told the Supreme Court: “A capable young man about whom many good things could undoubtedly be said, and with a good and supportive family around him, is facing a substantial period of imprisonment.

“The responsibility for that is his as a result of a number of very poor choices he made now in excess of two years ago.

“However bleakly the future may look for Mr Tucker, he is, of course, still here.

“Lovella Cruz lost her life that night through no fault of her own. She too was cherished by her family and her loss has caused them immeasurable pain.”

While Mr Justice Richards found that Tucker was entitled to a full discount for his early guilty plea, he said this was not a case where it would be appropriate to suspend any portion of his sentence.

In addition to the 4½-year sentence, the judge disqualified Tucker from driving all vehicles for eight years.

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

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.

While 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, 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.

The court heard that Tucker was previously convicted of refusing to provide police with a breath sample in 2018 and he did not have a valid driver’s licence when the fatal collision took place.

Ms Cruz was described by her family as a selfless and giving woman who left her home in an effort to make life better for her family in the Philippines.

She came to the island in 2018 and was employed as a cleaner before becoming a caregiver working with terminally ill people.

During sentencing hearings, both the Crown and defence counsel called for a sentence of five years, however, Marc Daniels, for Tucker, argued that the sentence could be partially suspended.

Mr Daniels said that delays in bringing the matter before the courts had left Tucker’s life in a “holding pattern”.

Daniel Kitson-Walters, for the Crown, responded that the delay in charging Tucker stemmed from the time taken to receive a report from a collision reconstruction expert and an autopsy report.

Tucker himself addressed the court before the sentence was rendered and said that he had thought about Ms Cruz every day since the fatal collision.

He said: “She was born in 1975 and she passed away in 2023 due to my negligent actions.

“I know that nothing I say could bring her back to her family. I’m sorry for what I did.

“I know that this whole thing has shattered me and shattered my family in ways I wouldn’t want to put on them.”

Tucker added that he wanted to become a better human and promised that he would not make the same mistake in the future.

Mr Justice Richards said that he agreed with the Crown that the starting point for sentencing in the case should be seven years but that Tucker deserved a full discount for his early guilty plea.

However, he said he was not persuaded that any portion of his sentence should be suspended.

Mr Justice Richards said: “It would have been better for everyone if this matter had been put before the courts more swiftly than it was but I’m satisfied there has not been in this case any breach of Tucker’s rights.

“There is, therefore, no good reason to suspend any portion of the sentence that I have decided in this case.

“I will, however, further reduce the sentence slightly to take account of the delay and personal mitigation.”

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