Hertfordshire: Cocaine-fuelled road killer taunts victim's family as he is jailed

A driver “off his head on cocaine” when he killed a highways worker taunted the man’s grieving family as he was jailed.

Duval Daly, 57, stuck his tongue out at Michael Bennett’s widow and daughter and said “I will be out in three years”, as he was led from the dock.

Daly, who had 55 convictions for 143 offences, was estimated to have had as much as 20 times the legal limit for cocaine in his body at the time he killed 54-year-old Mr Bennett, from Stanstead Abbotts, Hertfordshire.

He was jailed for six years and nine months at St Albans Crown Court, and banned from driving for nine years.

Mr Bennett, a highways engineer and father of three, had stopped to cut down an overhanging branch and was thrown 20 metres down the road when he was hit by the black BMW driven by Daly, who had no insurance and no licence.

Daly then tried to flee the scene but was held by three members of the public until police arrived.

Daly, of College Road in Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire, pleaded guilty to five charges: causing death by careless driving when over the limit for cocaine, cannabis and diazepam, and causing death while having no insurance and no licence.

Bravery awards for members of public who caught Daly

Prosecutor Stefan Weidmann said Mr Bennett had been working on Lieutenant Ellis Way in Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire on 2 November 2020 when the crash happened.

The prosecutor said the vehicle and Mr Bennett would both have been clearly visible, and that 13 other drivers had passed him safely on the 50mph road.

Mr Weidmann said: “It was a tragic irony that his aim was to make the road safer for his fellow motorists."

The BMW was calculated to have been travelling at between 61 and 73mph before hitting the central reservation, then running into Mr Bennett and his vehicle at between 33 and 47mph. Mr Bennett died 16 hours later from multiple injuries.

More than nine hours after the crash, Daly was found to have a reading of 469mg per litre of cocaine in his blood - nine times over the limit. A back calculation would be consistent with a reading of 1000mg, said the prosecutor. The limit is 50mg.

Three men saw Daly walking away from the scene and confronted him. He put his hand inside a shoulder bag and lunged at the men several times, but they were able to restrain him until police arrived.

The actions of the three men - Daniel Roberts, Ashley Manning and Richard Allen - were commended by the judge and they were each given a £350 award. 'A personality that lit up any room'In a victim statement, Mr Bennett’s daughter Charlie said: “In my eyes the defendant shows no remorse. He hit my dad and left him on the road. Luckily members of the public chased him and held him until the police arrived.”His widow Tanya said: “He was an amazing dad. He had a heart of gold and a personality that lit up any room. Our family is now broken.”

Before Daly stuck his tongue out at the family, his barrister Richard Milne said: ”He offers his deepest condolences saying ‘no words I could say could come close to giving you peace'.”

Jailing him, Judge Michael Kay QC told Daly: "The concoction of drugs would undoubtedly have impaired your actions. In colloquial terms, you must have been off your head on cocaine."

He added: “Mr Bennett went out to work that day and never returned. Nothing anyone can do can put that right or begin to help.

"It is obvious Mr Bennett was much-loved by his family and others. His death leaves an enormous hole in a number of people’s lives.”