Richard Jordan: footage shows moment Sunderland dad was killed after drink and drug-fuelled driver crashed

Shocking footage shows the moment a dad was killed after a drink and drug-fuelled driver crashed at more than 120mph.

Richard Jordan, 33, was in the back seat of the white Mercedes when it clipped another car and span across a dual carriageway.

The footage, which contains distressing scenes, has been released to coincide with the start of a national drink and drug driving campaign.

And Richard’s widow says she hopes the footage serves as a warning to others.

Richard was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on the A19 near Houghton-le-Spring, Sunderland, on 4 August, 2019.

The driver, Richard’s work colleague Mark Thompson, was over the drugs and alcohol limit and was jailed for six years and eight months.

Now the dashcam footage of the moment Richard’s life was taken when the car crashed at high-speed has been released by police.

Richard’s partner, Carol King, found out she was pregnant with their second child just 11 days after burying him.

‘It has destroyed the lives of so many people’

Carol, 30, said she wanted the distressing footage of Richard’s final moments to be released as a warning to drink and drug drivers.

She said: “I used to be the person who read about these tragic incidents. Then it happened to my family.

“People don’t realise at the time when under the influence of drink or drugs, all inhibitions and common sense go out of the window.

“Other road users, pedestrians, even your own passengers’ safety and your own doesn’t register and isn’t called in to question, the recklessness completely spirals.

“Before Richie passed I probably wouldn’t challenge somebody who had been drinking but you see it all the time, people pushing the boundaries.

“‘I’ll just have a couple,’ ‘it’s only down the road,’ ‘I’ll be fine, it will only take five minutes.’

“Now I wouldn’t think twice about challenging someone I knew who’s over the limit.

“On the night Richie died that was precisely what happened. A number of decisions were made without thinking or being challenged.

“It has destroyed the lives of so many people. One moment – getting behind the wheel under the influence of drink and drugs – and for what?

“I’ve now got two young daughters, Quinn is four and Gray is two, who are yet to fully comprehend their loss and the enormity of what’s happened.

“The ripple effect of that night passed on to two young children to carry the burden of before their lives have even begun.”

‘Campaigns like this are so important’

Last August Mark Thompson, 43, of Seaham, County Durham, admitted causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury to another passenger.

The footage has been released in time for the start of a national drink and drug driving campaign which will run for the next fortnight.

Carol added: “Campaigns like this are so important and that’s why we wanted to release the footage now and hopefully stop others from making the same mistakes that were made that night.

“In the years since Richie’s death, we’ve all been trying to make sense of it – it must have been for something. There must be a positive or a lesson we can take from it.

“So when you see someone who is considering jumping in the car under the influence, think of Richie.

“Think of my girls and remember the story you’re reading now - a story similar to ones I once read could be your own reality, as it is for me now.”

Sergeant Glen Robson, of Northumbria Police’s Operation Dragoon team said: “By making the decision to get behind the wheel, you are rolling the dice with people’s lives. As this awful case shows, it can have irreversible consequences and ruin more than one life in an instant.

“This footage showing the moment before Richie’s death is hard-hitting and harrowing. We’re releasing it for a reason – to try and help get the message through to people.”