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One-eyed motorist who killed young mother in horror crash while driving with a broken leg in £400 car he bought on Facebook is jailed for more than five years

A one-eyed motorist who killed his girlfriend in a horror crash while driving with a broken leg in a £400 car he bought on Facebook has been jailed for more than five years.

Steven Michael Gaskell, 31, had already been caught driving while disqualified seven times before he killed young mother Courtney Donnelly, 23, on September 17 last year.

Nottingham Crown Court heard how drug dealer Gaskell, who only had one eye after being shot with a BB gun, had never passed a driving test. He also had cannabis in his system on the day of the crash.

After buying a black Mini from Facebook marketplace, he took his partner out for a drive but lost control of the vehicle and clipped a nearside verge. The car crossed the carriageway, flew off the road and rolled 60 metres before ending up in a field. 

Emergency services rushed to the scene near Brampton Ash, Northamptonshire, but Ms Donnelly could not be saved and died from ‘catastrophic injuries’.

One-eyed motorist Steven Michael Gaskell (pictured), 31, has been jailed for more than five years

One-eyed motorist Steven Michael Gaskell (pictured), 31, has been jailed for more than five years

One-eyed motorist Steven Michael Gaskell (pictured), 31, has been jailed for more than five years

Just 24 days earlier, Gaskell had been given a suspended prison term after being caught behind the wheel of a vehicle he had stolen.

The father-of-two was taken to hospital and when arrested, he asked police why the courts always let him off.

He said: ‘Why do I always get away with it? She’s dead. I might as well be dead. I don’t want to be here anymore.’

Gaskell, of Corby, Northamptonshire, admitted causing death by driving while disqualified, possession with intent to supply cannabis and driving without insurance.

He was jailed for five years and two months at Northampton Crown Court yesterday – a sentence Ms Donnelly’s family described as ‘lenient’.

Sentencing, Judge Rupert Mayo said: ‘It’s a shame it’s taken the death of Courtney Donnelly to bring about any form of understanding as to why you shouldn’t drive while disqualified.’

The court was told Gaskell had been a banned driver for 11 years and had 53 convictions dating back to when he was 19.

He was also the only man ever prosecuted in connection with the unsolved murder of David Les Ross after being charged with the burglary of Mr Ross’s house before he died.

Gaskell, 31, had already been caught driving while disqualified seven times before he killed his girlfriend Courtney Donnelly (pictured), 23, on September 17 last year

Gaskell, 31, had already been caught driving while disqualified seven times before he killed his girlfriend Courtney Donnelly (pictured), 23, on September 17 last year

Gaskell, 31, had already been caught driving while disqualified seven times before he killed his girlfriend Courtney Donnelly (pictured), 23, on September 17 last year

Prosecutor Andy Peet described Gaskell’s record as ‘appalling’. Mr Peet said: ‘He’s addicted to driving while disqualified. It can’t be put more plainly than that.’

The court heard Gaskell had bought the Mini Cooper at 6.30pm on September 17 last year, and the accident happened just a few hours later at 11pm.

Gaskell had been driving on the A427 when he clipped the verge and rolled several times into a field.

Mr Peet said that a man who stopped at the scene phoned 999 but front-seat-passenger Courtney – mother to Lily-Mae, aged just two – had been killed.

In the footwell of the car was cannabis and pills, and two mobile phones showed police that Gaskell was a drug dealer.

When Gaskell was found trapped in the front passenger seat, with several serious injuries, he told officers he thought the car must have been defective.

He said: ‘I’ve killed her, haven’t I? The car must have been dodgy. I felt her go a few times.

‘I shouldn’t have been driving while disqualified. She’s 23, she’s dead. What am I meant to do now. I’m going to jail. At least I can see with one eye..’

Experts who examined the car found nothing wrong with the vehicle.

Mr Peet added: ‘The fact he was driving a car while believing there was something wrong with the vehicle indicates his attitude towards driving cars. He simply doesn’t care.’

Gaskell, of Corby, Northamptonshire, admitted causing death by driving while disqualified, possession with intent to supply cannabis and driving without insurance

Gaskell, of Corby, Northamptonshire, admitted causing death by driving while disqualified, possession with intent to supply cannabis and driving without insurance

Gaskell, of Corby, Northamptonshire, admitted causing death by driving while disqualified, possession with intent to supply cannabis and driving without insurance

Gaskell only has one eye after he was shot with a BB Gun in 2022 in what was said to be a drug deal gone wrong.

Courtney’s aunt Kelly Donnelly read a moving victim impact statement which she delivered to a sobbing Gaskell who was seated in the dock.

She said: ‘On September 17 a mother’s life was stolen. Courtney was a loving single mother who always put her daughter Lily-Mae first, caring for her with love and responsibility.

‘Together with her daughter’s nanny, that child was adored beyond measure.

‘Courtney was the perfect sister and a great daughter. How can a parent ever come to terms with the loss of their daughter and the horrific incident which occurred that night?

‘We will never hear Courtney’s voice again. We will never see that beautiful smile that would light up a room. We will never see that fun loving mum playing and watching her daughter grow up.

‘You alone have caused this. My sister will never find the words to explain the devastation she felt.

‘She remembers screaming, crying and shouting no, no, no. My sister wasn’t able to recognise her daughter.

‘Imagine not being able to identify your own daughter.’

Micaila Williams, defending, said her client knew he should not have been at the wheel that night.

She added: ‘He’d been a disqualified driver for many years. He had not qualms about his own ability to drive and didn’t believe he was putting Miss Donnelly at risk of harm.

‘It was a way of life for him. It’s only now there’s a realisation of the significant risk he placed others at.’

Ms Williams added that he had become a cannabis dealer after he had been shot, previously working scrapping cars.

Detective Constable Eleanor Hudson, of Northamptonshire Police, said after the case: ‘Steven Gaskell has clearly demonstrated a total disregard for the sanctions imposed by the court as he knew that he was not entitled to be driving yet still chose to do so.

‘His selfish decision to continue to get behind the wheel of a car not only robbed a young woman of her future but also her young daughter of her mummy.

‘Courtney was a much-loved daughter, and her death has left her family devastated and heartbroken.

‘Through his own fault, Gaskell will live with the consequences of the decisions he made on that night.

‘Not only the impact it has had on his partner, her daughter and family but his own life too.’

Following the sentencing, Courtney’s distraught family slammed the ‘lenient’ jail term given to Gaskell.

Because he has been on remand since the crash, he could be out of prison in two years and three months.

Aunt Kelly Donnelly said: ‘It’s like my niece’s life never even meant anything to anybody.

‘He’s still going to have his life. He said in court he’s not going to see his kids, well Courtney will never see her daughter again. He’s got the rest of his life to see his.

‘Lily-Mae is just two years old and she’ll never see her mum. It’s too lenient. It’s nothing but a little holiday for him. He’s not even apologised for what he did in that car.’

‘We’re so angry that he’ll be out so soon. It’s not justice.’

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