Ryan Owen-Brewerton (pictured), 20, was speeding through Abingdon town centre, Oxfordshire
A drunk driver who knocked down and killed a tourist while speeding through a town centre at 78mph was jailed for seven years today.
Ryan Owen-Brewerton, 20, was speeding through Abingdon town centre, Oxfordshire, at almost 80mph, while almost three times over the drink-drive limit.
He struck a 20-year-old tourist Kacper Grzeszek who had been enjoying a gap-year holiday in the UK from his home in Poland.
A judge heard trainee carpenter Owen-Brewerton had an appalling driving record, having been caught speeding at almost 100mph at 18 years old.
He was only holding a provisional licence at the time.
He then lost his driving licence with more penalty points a year later when he lost control while driving too fast and hit a lamp-post.
Earlier this year he was given his licence back but seven months later knocked down and killed Mr Grzeszek.
Owen-Brewerton, of Abingdon, was sentenced to seven years in prison after he admitted causing death by dangerous driving.
20-year-old student Kacper Grzeszek (pictured left with sister Zuzanna right) had been on a gap-year holiday from Poland when he was hit by the car and died the next day
He was given a four month jail sentence to run concurrently for admitting a charge of driving with excess alcohol.
He will also be disqualified from driving for the next six-and-a-half years.
Judge Nigel Daley heard that at the scene of the tragedy, the defendant had only been interested in the damage caused to his red BMW car.
Terrifying footage of the modified car overtaking motorists in the town centre minutes before the fatal crash was shown at Oxford Crown Court on October 7.
The court heard how Owen-Brewerton jumped out of his car after sending the man flying at 9.30pm, and later blamed the accident on the victim.
Judge Daly said the thug had not immediately expressed remorse after the accident.
He said the racer had blamed the pedestrian ‘for stepping out in front of you when you were said you were driving 30mph’, calling it a ‘selfish lie’.
The court heard how the tragic death was Owen-Brewerton’s third driving conviction.
Prosecuting counsel Alan Blake said: ‘He received his licence back in January this year, just seven months before the fatal collision.’
Mr Grzeszek was rushed to the major trauma unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford with life-threatening head injuries and died the next day.
In an emotional statement, the victim’s mother Joanna Grzeszek, said she ‘could not forgive’ the thug’s actions.
Defending him, barrister Jonathan Coode explained that Owen-Brewerton was ‘irresponsible and reckless’ but he did not intentionally take the life of another man.
In a letter he wrote to the judge, Owen-Brewerton expressed ‘deep remorse’ for his actions which lead to the death of a young man of the same age.
He wrote: ‘I know I am fully to blame and I will never be able to forgive myself for the pain I have caused. There is no excuses for what I have done and I take full responsibility.’
The court also heard that he lost his temper after a shouting match at a pub and decided to drive to see his uncle a mile away.
Terrifying footage of the modified car overtaking motorists (pictured) in the town centre minutes before the fatal crash was shown at Oxford Crown Court on October 7.
CCTV footage (pictured) shows the motorist speeding at almost 80mph, while almost three times over the drink-drive limit
The defence counsel said that the defendant was ‘diagnosed with autism at age 14 years’ and became ‘very, very angry inside after the confrontation’.
Judge Daly said: ‘From statements I have read, it refers to the collision as a tragic accident but I do not consider it to be an accident.
‘You deliberately drank a large amount of alcohol, you deliberately got into your car and drove it and you deliberately drove at a ridiculous speed through the town centre of Abingdon.
‘It was arrogant and it was selfish. You had no consideration for anyone else.’