Wife's pain of losing 'husband, best friend and soulmate' as drug driver who killed him is jailed

A woman has described the pain of losing her ‘soulmate, best friend and husband’ after the drug driver who killed him was jailed for more than five years.

Lucan Vaughan (42) was travelling to work in March on June 18 last year when the car he was driving was hit by the Mercedes driven by Edgars Lesauskas.

Lesauskas was travelling more than 60mph in a 30mph residential area – and tested positive for both cocaine and cannabis following the crash.

Mr Vaughan died at the scene.

Yesterday he was jailed for five and a half years at Peterborough Crown Court after pleading guilty to three counts of causing death by driving without due care and attention.

Sentencing, Judge Matthew Lowe said he had been travelling at a ‘grossly excessive speed.’

He said the sentence passed was not intended to put a price on Mr Vaughan’s life – saying ‘his life was priceless.’

‘Living without him is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do’

Mr Vaughan’s friends and family were packed into the court, and there were sobs from the public gallery as the facts of the case were read out.

A statement from Sara Vaughan, Mr Vaughan’s wife, was read to the court by prosecutor Stephen Mather.

In the statement, Mrs Vaughan said: “He and I met 17 years ago. Living without him is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.

"Lucan was such a kind man.

"He was very thoughtful, and cared about others.”He loved to laugh. He always knew what to say to cheer me up.

"He was my soulmate, my best friend, my husband. The world is a much poorer place without him.”

Lesauskas travelling twice the speed limit when incident happened

Mr Mather told the court the incident happened just before 6am on Friday, June 18.

Lesauskas (29), of Creek Road, March, was travelling to work at Tradelink, and was speeding along Elm Road in March.

Mr Mather said: “The investigation showed his minimum speed was 60mph, when the limit was 30mph. The road was wet because it was raining, it was in a built up, residential area.”

Mr Vaughan, of Russell Avenue, March, who also worked at Tradelink, had been trying to find a parking space, and was executing a turn in the road.

Mr Mather said ‘the collision was unavoidable.’

Lesauskas gave a drugs test in hospital, and he tested positive for cannabis, cocaine and Benzoylecgonine – a by-product of taking cocaine.

He also had no insurance, after his policy had been made invalid after he failed to declare seven points he received for failing to stop after an accident and driving without due care and attention in 2020.

No explanation offered as to why Lesauskas drove after consuming drugs

Lesauskas, a father of two young children, walked into the dock using crutches as a result of injuries he sustained in the collision. He cried during the hearing as he listened to the details of the case through a Lithuanian interpreter.

Defending, Nicholas Maggs said the strongest mitigation was Lesauskas’ guilty pleas.

He said: “I appreciate there is nothing he can say to bring any comfort to Mr Vaughan’s family.

"One thing I can say is he pleaded guilty as soon as he could plead guilty.”

Mr Maggs said Lesauskas could offer no explanation as to why he got behind the wheel after taking drugs.

He added: “The fact he caused the death of another human being is devastating for him. It brings him to tears every single day.”

He also said Lesauskas’ injuries – which included multiple fractures of both legs, needing a number of operations, were mitigation he could use in court.

Mr Maggs said he was still only able to take a few steps unaided, and it was not known if he would be able to walk again properly in the future.

"In deciding the appropriate sentence I am not seeking to put a value on Mr Vaughan’s life. His life was priceless.”

Sentencing, Judge Lowe said: “Lucan Vaughan was a loved and loving husband. He was a thoughtful and caring friend. He was a much loved work colleague.”

He added: “Lucan Vaughan had his life extinguished by this defendant’s criminal activity. This defendant made a conscious and deliberate decision to drive after consuming cannabis and cocaine. He made the conscious and deliberate decision to drive at twice the legal limit in a residential, built up area.

"These deliberate decisions led to the death of Lucan Vaughan in what should have been a completely avoidable collision.

"In deciding the appropriate sentence I am not seeking to put a value on Mr Vaughan’s life. His life was priceless.”

Judge Lowe said the case was aggravated by Lesauskas’ driving offences in 2020. He said: “The offence is aggravated because of that earlier conviction. He had a shot across the bows in 2020. That should have been a warning to him. He chose to ignore it.”

Judge Lowe said Lesauskas, would serve half his five and a half year sentence in prison, with the other half on licence.

He also gave him a five year driving ban – with a 33 month extension period to cover the time Lesauskas is in prison. He will have to take an extended retest before he can drive again.