Drink driver jailed after causing death of ‘loved’ man, 27, with dreams of running food van with partner in Northamptonshire

A driver has been sent to prison after causing the death of a 27-year-old man by smashing into the back of his stationary car on the A45 carriageway whilst intoxicated.

On February 27 last year, 27-year-old Daniel Pastaca - known to family and friends as Danny - collected his partner of 10 years from her work place in his Volkswagen Golf car at around 7.40pm before making his way onto the A45 dual carriageway.

At junction 10 near Earls Barton, Mr Pastaca’s vehicle sustained a puncture to one of his front tyres so he pulled over to the nearside verge on the carriageway. There was no hard shoulder at this point on the road and the nearest safe refuge point was around half a mile away; the puncture would not have enabled him to reach that point in any event, Northampton Crown Court heard on Friday, June 23.

Even though that stretch of carriageway was unlit, the car lights were left on along with its hazard lights and Mr Pastaca’s partner flashed her mobile phone light to alert passing drivers of their presence. This would have been visible to any approaching vehicle within 250m, the court heard.

Mr Pastaca’s vehicle protruded into the nearest lane by 0.2m leaving an “ample” 5.8m of space for vehicles to pass, said prosecutor Ms Rose.

As Mr Pastaca began to change his tyre, 69-year-old Stephen Cook was driving his Vauxhall Astra van in the same direction. According to witnesses, he was seen to be straddling lanes one and two on the dual carriageway and he was undertaken by one car before he collided with the stationary Volkswagen Golf car at 60mph.

The smash propelled the stationary vehicle into a nearby ditch and threw Mr Pastaca’s body in the same direction, leaving him with catastrophic head and chest injuries that resulted in his death. Cook’s vehicle wound up in a ditch on the other side of the carriageway.

Cook, who sustained head injuries in the collision, was described as being either in “severe shock, traumatised or intoxicated” as he insisted he was going to walk home because he “had work in the morning.”

He was arrested after being breathalysed and found to be over the legal limit for alcohol and his behaviour became “erratic”, alternating between being abusive and apologetic. He was taken to hospital in an ambulance.

Mr Pastaca’s partner, in a victim personal statement, said that Danny was her “best friend and soulmate” and they moved to England from Romania together with a dream of buying a food van and running it together because she is a chef.

“I can’t describe how loved Danny was and the massive void his death has left us with,” she said. “I am hurt and angry by someone’s self decision to drive whilst under the influence of alcohol which resulted in his death.”

She added: “No outcome, in my mind, would be justice.”

Cook, formerly of Palmer Square, is of previous good character and the DVLA has no recorded convictions for him.

Ms Hobson, in mitigation, described Cook as a “hard working family-oriented man” who led a “blameless life” until this incident.

The court heard that Cook turned to drink for solace after losing his father and his late wife in 2021 within two weeks of each other.

Before Cook made his journey on the day of the collision, he claimed he had dinner at his first wife’s house and consumed three gin and tonics.

Ms Hobson said that Cook has expressed “a great deal of remorse” and now carries a “heavy burden of shame.” He struggles to sleep and thinks about the victim and his family every day.

The defendant referred himself to the ‘Change, Grow, Live’ programme to tackle his alcohol issues and alcohol now rarely touches his lips, the court heard.

Ms Hobson, after briefly turning her back in court to consult with her client, informed the judge that Cook reminded her of a piece of mitigation that is “never attractive” to make under these circumstances.

The defence barrister began: “I am told that there was, within a very short space of time, a service station very close by-”

“This is not helping him,” Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane interjected.

Sentencing, Judge Crane said there was “plenty of time” for vehicles to stop or manoeuvre to avoid Mr Pastaca’s vehicle and other drivers managed to do this so the collision was caused by “more than a momentary lapse of concentration.”

She said that the victim of the fatal collision was “entirely blameless.”

“The suggestion that he could have continued driving to some unknown destination or service station is completely unrealistic. He and his partner did all they could to ensure their vehicle was visible,” she added.

Cook was sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison and disqualified from driving for three years and 11 months.