by A ‘wonderful’ dad was tragically killed by a speeding drunk driver after enjoying a Christmas Eve meal with friends.
Charalambos Nicolaou and his daughter Polyxeni, who was 17 at the time, were visiting the UK from Cyprus for Christmas, reports Stoke-on-Trent Live. They stayed with their friends Angelos Nicola and his wife Julia Nicola-Sakka and visited an Italian restaurant on 24 December.
As the group was leaving La Villa Verde and walking back to their car parked nearby, a speeding car smashed into the Hyundai. Mr Nicolaou, aged 62, died tragically at the scene.
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His daughter escaped without serious injuries but Angelos and Julia were seriously injured and spent weeks in Royal Stoke University Hospital. The driver of the car, Mark Plimmer, was drinking pints and Jagerbombs before he lost control and smashed into the car.
He was ‘driving at an alarmingly high speed’, the court heard, with a witness claiming he reached speeds of up to 100mph when he overtook another vehicle in his Vauxhall Vectra. Plimmer, 28, did not have insurance on the car and did not have a driving licence. He failed to stop at the scene and the Vauxhall had no valid MOT.
A clipper is seen overtaking at 100mph
Prosecutor Caroline Harris said Mr Nicolaou and Polyxeni were visiting the UK for Christmas from Cyprus and were staying with Angelos and Julia who live in Uttoxeter.
They left La Villa Verde at 8.45pm and walked a short distance to the side where Angelos was parked. But Plimmer was speeding recklessly and plowed into the Hyundai.
He used to drink in the White Hart, in Tean, and he drank pints and Jagerbombs – Jagermeister and Red Bull chasers. He then went to The Raddle Inn and had more alcohol before returning home. But he left and went towards Draycott.
A witness described him overtaking him at around 100mph and CCTV caught him driving at an ‘absolutely terrifying’ speed. Investigators found he was driving at 81mph in a 40mph zone, 110 meters before the point of collision.
Angelos and Julia were thrown some distance from their car because of the collision. They remain under medical care and suffer physical and emotional injuries, the court heard.
Plimmer was trapped in the Vauxhall and freed from the restaurant staff. He stayed at the scene and said there was no one else in the car.
It was noticed that he was slurring his words. He went to a nearby property and asked family and friends to collect him. He ran away and was found by police hiding in a hedge.
It was ‘war’ for police and paramedics. He was breathalyzed and gave a reading of 56 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 milliliters of breath, against the legal limit of 35.
He refused to submit to any further tests for alcohol and drugs. He said he wasn’t the driver – but he didn’t say who the driver was. The evidence at his trial was clear, however – he was the only person in the car.
‘How can someone be so reckless?’
The court heard moving statements from the victims and other family members. Polyxeni is now an orphan because her mother died of cancer when she was six years old. Julia spent five weeks in hospital and has vertigo.
She also suffered permanent scarring on her forehead. She has now lost her confidence and feels angry and emotional. She said: “Christmas will never be the same. How can someone be so self-absorbed? He’s had the life of a brilliant father and friend and nothing can fix that.
“We are still in close contact with Polyxeni. We will do whatever it takes to facilitate her happy future.”
Angelos had to be resuscitated at the scene. He suffered serious injuries and spent a month in hospital. He said: “My wife and I have been changed forever. This will stay with us forever.”
Plimmer, of Woodlands Lane, Blythe Bridge, denied causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving but was found guilty of all three charges following a trial in July. He pleaded guilty to failing to stop after an accident; driving without insurance; driving without a licence; and failing to provide a breath or blood sample for analysis.
Neil Baki, mitigating, said Plimmer knew he would receive an extremely long sentence. He is a ‘safer custody representative’ and is responsible for preventing fights and violence in the prison wings.
Mr Baki said: “He regrets the great sadness he feels as a result of his reckless self-medicating actions while drinking and driving.”
Plimmer will serve two-thirds of the 18-year sentence before being released on licence. He was banned from driving for 22 years and must take an extended test before he can drive again.
Judge Sally Hancox said: “You were driving at an alarmingly high speed. One witness believed you may have been driving at 100mph when you caught him. Noticed slurring your words.
“The evidence at the trial was clear – there was no one else in the car that evening but yourself. The life lost as a result of your selfish actions was a life we loved and it is a loss to so many other people.
“You chose to deliberately disregard the rules of the road and completely disregarded the risk of danger to anyone else who might be using the road. Your driving was severely impaired by alcohol, which least.”
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