EMOTIONAL tributes were paid in court today to the 65-victim of a drug and drink driver - whose actions have had a devastating effect on an East Tilbury family who are now reflecting on the fact he will walk out of prison in another two and a half years.

Miss Barbara Murray, 65, never regained consciousness after being hit by a vehicle driven by Liam Jones-Bell, now 27, on 16 May, 2018.

The vehicle, a Mercedes he had taken without permission from a friend's home, also struck Ms Murray's 11-year-old niece Elsie-May, who was seriously injured. She suffered multiple broken bones and facial wounds in the crash and spent many months recovering, several of them in a wheelchair.

In June last year Jones-Bell, 25, of Markhams Close, Laindon, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, failing to stop after a collision, aggravated vehicle taking, drink-driving, driving while unfit through drugs, driving without insurance and driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence.

He was sentenced to a total of three years and four months in jail and banned from driving for eight years and eight months.

At the time Ms Murray remained in a coma at London Hospital, passing away in hospital five months after the crash.

That prompted the Crown Prosecution to elevate the charges against Jones-Bell - who pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving when he again appeared at Basildon Crown Court today (Tuesday, 26 November).

Judge John Lodge, who presided at the original sentencing, heard emotive statements from family members before passing sentence.

The elevation of one of the charges to causing death saw Jones-Bell get five years but because the sentences are concurrent and he will be eligible for release on licence halfway through his term, he will be out in 30 months.

Judge Lodge's new sentence came moments after he heard a considered impact statements from members of Ms Murray's family.

In a tearful and sometimes angry speech, Barbara's younger sister Angela spoke directly to Jones-Bell, who sat impassively in the dock.

She told the court: "This has been a long time coming but hopefully today we are all here to seek justice for my dead sister and maimed daughter that were cruelly mown down while innocently walking to school.

"They were callously left in the road without any consideration for what their injuries were just so you could try and get away.

"I know this statement will have no bearing on the judge's decision but I just want you to know the heartbreak and strife that you have caused and still continue to cause every day of my life.

"I want you to know the impact your actions have had on our family.

"Barbara was my older sister. She lived just round the corner from me and looked after my daughter Elsie-Mae when I went to work.

"She did everything with Elsie-Mae and was more like a mother than me as I was always out at work.

"I saw Barb at least three times a day and we spent every weekend together.

"Every school holiday she would take Elsie-Mae down to her caravan at Clacton. The energy that woman had was incredible.

"Barbara was not only my sister, but my best friend.

"My mother died when I was quite young and Barbara took her place so she was a sister, friend, auntie, mother and the matriarch of our family. To say we are lost without her would be a complete understatement."

Angela Murray then told the court about the aftermath of the incident and the impact it has had on her and her daughter's long term health.

She said: "I was only minutes away from the accident and got back to find them both in the road with horrendous injuries that I can never forget.

"I am now unable to work and as a result I am in financial difficulties.

"I find it difficult to leave the house. The whole of East Tilbury is crushed by what happened and sometimes the sympathy for me and my family becomes so much that I just want to hide away. Depression has seriously set in and sometimes wish that it was me that had died and not Barbara, because she was so strong she would have coped and carried on.

"Right now that is not an option for me.

"The loss and impact to our family is massive. Right now I should be thinking about what she would like for Christmas, instead we are picking a headstone.

"She was 65, with her whole life in front of her."

While a picture of Barbara was held up by a family member for the defendant to see - though he mostly stared straight ahead, facing the judge - Ms Murray could barely hold back the tears that threatened to become a torrent as she turned to him and said: "I saw you often in East Tilbury, we often said hello. You know me and you know my son Ryan. We do not live far from my sister and the site of this crash.

"I can no longer drive past to get off East Tilbury. I have to pass her house and all I see is their crushed bodies - the blood and the emergency services surrounding them.

"Every time I pass I think 'How could this happen on a nice residential road on a bright sunny day?'

"You took her life. Every day I want you to remember what you have done. How you sleep at night is beyond me, because - believe me - I don't."

A statement from Barbara's brother David was also read to the court by prosecutor Stephen Ross. It read: "The death of Barbara has torn our family apart. My sister was the backbone of our family.

"Barbara was more than an aunt to Elsie-Mae, she was like a mother to her.

"We went to visit her in London Hospital every day, knowing that she would not recover - the agony of this was unbearable. All we could do was sit and watch her waste away.

"To have someone taken away in such a mindless way is devastating."

And Judge Lodge also took into account a previous statement from Elsie-Mae, now 12 and a pupil at St Clere's where she is slowly forging a new life after her horrendous experience. She said: ""I just want to be normal, play with my friends and join in.

"I know with time I will get better, but I will never forget."

Jones-Bell's representative in court, Neil Corre, spoke briefly in mitigation, saying: "He was 27 three weeks ago. He is serving his first sentence of imprisonment and it has been difficult.

"He is aware he has caused great suffering to others.

"He is aware it is drink that led to these awful consequences. He knows the realisation of his culpability and knows that the harm he has caused is beyond words."

Judge Lodge then appeared set to hand out the longest possible sentence to Jones- Bell as he summed up, addressing the defendant and saying: "It's hard to imagine a much worse piece of driving. It was in the early hours of the morning and you were driving a car you had no right to be driving.

"You were over the permitted limit considerably for both drink and drugs. You drove that car at an excessive, dangerous speed, consequently giving rise to the tragic accident, after which, having placed your victim in a coma, instead of stopping to see if there was anything you could have done, you fled the scene.

"The only thing to your possible credit is that you pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

"The devastation of this family lies at your door. No sentence I can impose can ever bring back or possibly reflect what was so terrible taken away.

"There are a large number of aggravating factors - the drink, the drugs, a previous conviction for drink driving and fleeing the scene to avoid being detected."

Despite his harsh summary, Judge Lodge then appeared to back down in terms of interpreting the severity of the punishment.>

He could have meted out a 12 year sentence, which would have been cut to eight because of the guilty plea - and Jones-Bell would have served four more years behind bars before being released on licence.

Instead, to the clear and obvious shock to some of Ms Murray's family, he announced a sentence of 'five years starting from today' - which means the killer will be out in 30 months, serving the second half of his sentence on licence.

And Judge Lodge declined to increase the length of disqualification from driving, Jones Bell will be able to apply for a licence seven years after leaving prison.

OPINION – Thurrock NubNews Editor Neil Speight

BASILDON Crown Court is never a pleasant place to be. Its walls reverberate daily to horror stories and injustices that shock most people to the core.

Today a family from East Tilbury will feel a severe injustice has been done to the memory of a much loved family figure – the matriarch whose love and strength bound young and old together.

Her life was snatched away by the reckless actions of a young man high on drink and drugs and in an angry mood. I have no doubt he did not intend to kill Barbara Murray – nor severely injure a young girl.

But his actions on the day speak louder than any words of regret can do. Yet it seems the price of a life is just over four years in prison. Of course that's not a pleasant place to be, but it's a much better place than the hell that the Murray family have – and continue to live through.

Sometimes you have to wonder about our judicial system – and question the value that courts put on human life.

For the Murray family, recovery from this will seem an impossibility. And indeed it is. They can never go back to the way things were.

But today they handled themselves with dignity and pride in court.

One part of this nightmare is now behind them. Sadly, I have learned that some completely unintelligible people who I can only describe as scum, have taken it upon themselves to troll and harass the Murray family. Shamefully, the authorities don't appear to want to do anything about that.

The only solace, as they face the battle against financial burden and devastating memories, is that the vast majority of the community of East Tilbury will rally round them. Hopefully, that may provide a way for Angela and her children to stay in their family home and build the future together.

It's often said that a strong rope is made of many strands that are woven together. It would be wonderful to see the East Tilbury and wider Thurrock community weave that rope to the future together.