Shaun Mulligan had cans of lager and sambuca shots the night before hitting 71-year-old Jennifer Allen’s car with his scaffolding van in an autumn afternoon crash.
Mulligan, 48, later told police he had a swig of vodka twice in the hours leading up to the crash.
Witnesses could smell the booze on his breath as he remained trapped in his van and he tested nearly twice the legal limit three hours after the crash.
He was jailed after admitting causing Ms Allen’s death.
A sentencing hearing in Lewes today heard how Mulligan, of Seaside in Eastbourne, had been drinking the night before the crash on November 6, 2022.
Mulligan later had a “glug” of vodka before visiting a family member and had another drink from the bottle after leaving.
At around 4pm Mulligan lost control of his van travelling westbound on the A281 near Henfield, smashing into Ms Allen’s Suzuki Jimny coming in the opposite direction.
Ms Allen was pronounced dead at the scene while Mulligan lay trapped in the wreckage of his van.
Empty vodka bottles were found inside his van and, three hours after the crash, Mulligan had nearly double the legal limit of alcohol in his blood.
A test also showed he had over the legal limit of cocaine in his blood.
Mulligan admitted causing death by careless driving while over the limit on drink and drugs. He was jailed for five years and disqualified from driving for seven and a half years.
Speaking after the case, the family of Ms Allen said: “It is extremely difficult to convey the grief, the enormous sense of loss and the life-changing turmoil caused when Jenny’s life was brutally ended by the selfish and reckless behaviour of a man who clearly had no concept of duty or responsibility whatsoever.
“So many people were better for having Jenny in their lives and we feel very fortunate to have benefited from her kind and gentle nature and we miss her every day.”
Sussex Police Detective Sergeant Ian Foxton from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit said: “Yet again this is another case that demonstrates the devastating consequences of drink and drug driving.
“Witnesses and footage showed Mulligan’s poor driving. He posed a serious risk not just to his own safety, but to every other road user.
“Tragically, this was evidenced when he lost control of his vehicle and caused a head-on collision.
“The fact Mulligan still thought he would be ok to drive, despite consuming vodka, is shocking.
“Our work to catch drink and drug drivers before they cause such harm to themselves and others continues.”
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