Teen moped rider killed by drug driver was 'smart, funny and a charmer', says mum

The mother of a teenager who died when he was knocked off his moped by a drug driver has said he was "a charmer" who wanted to live his life to the fullest.

Daniel Davies had recently celebrated his 16th birthday when he died on 17 April 2022.

Harry Charlton, 29, has been jailed for five years for causing his death by careless driving while over the prescribed limit of drugs.

The court heard how he drove through a red light at the through-about junction near Warmley and hit Daniel, who was driving his moped.

When he was tested, Charlton was found to be just over the legal limit for cannabis.

Daniel died at the scene after suffering a head injury.

Immediately after the sentencing, Daniel's mother Samantha said she was "expecting more" and she felt the sentence "wasn't long enough".

Speaking to ITV News West Country earlier, she Daniel was "very smart" and "funny".

She added: "He used to come home after being out and he'd go up to his bed and I'd lie next to him and we'd chat for ages.

"He had the world, he had everybody around his little finger. He was a charmer."

Recounting the events of the night Daniel died, she said: "I messaged Dan to see where he was.

"He wasn't due in til 11 so I wasn't overly concerned but he'd only had his bike four days so I was obviously a little bit more nervous about him being out than I would have been and I got no reply.

"Then his girlfriend's dad phoned me and said 'there's been an accident.

"We don't know if Dan's involved because we can't get to the ring road' but his girlfriend Kasha had been tracking him on her phone and the tracker showed his bike at being on the ring-road."

Samantha rushed to the scene but wasn't allowed beyond the police cordon.

"The rest of it is a bit of a blur to be honest. Somebody said that somebody would be down to talk to me. I don't know who said that.

"And then two policemen were walking down from the ring-road towards where I was and I said to them 'Is it Dan?' and they said 'Yes' and I said 'Is he dead?' and they just said 'Yes.'

Samantha's pain was compounded by the fact that she had lost her husband just four months before Daniel's death.

But she said that, rather than being consumed by grief, the double tragedy drives her to live her life to the fullest.

She said: "I'm living for him. I just do things out of my comfort zone because I want to do it because I'm living for Dan, I'm living for both of them.

"I have days when I don't want to do anything at all but on the days I'm not, I do the things that I want to do and I enjoy life, and I don't feel guilty because I'm doing it for Dan. I'm living for them."