A mother has publicly forgiven the driver who killed her 17-year-old daughter while under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Danielle O'Halloran addressed Keilan Roberts, 22, in Cardiff Crown Court, stating: 'I do forgive you. I just want you to learn.'
Chloe Hayman, from Tonypandy, Rhondda Cynon Taf, was a passenger in a Skoda Octavia driven by Roberts when the crash occurred on 24 July 2022 in Fochriw, Caerphilly county. Roberts had taken ketamine, cocaine and ecstasy, and was over the drink-drive limit. The car had worn tyres and would have failed an MOT.
Roberts, of Rhymney, Caerphilly county, pleaded guilty to one charge of causing death by careless driving while over the drink-drive limit, and three charges of causing death by careless driving while over the drug-drive limit. He was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.
In a victim impact statement, Ms O'Halloran said her family's lives had changed forever. 'Losing Chloe has brought so much loss and pain to my family,' she told the court. After the hearing, she described the sentence as 'an insult' to her family, adding: 'No family should ever have to experience what we have experienced.'
Chloe's stepmother, Alix Hayman, said Chloe's death had left her husband, Gavin, 'broken'. Judge David Wynn Morgan told Roberts: 'She was a real living person who would be alive today had you not taken the selfish, criminally foolish and intoxicated decision to put her in your car and drive.'
