A DANGEROUS driver has been jailed after she caused the death of her popular 'gentle giant' boyfriend in a high-speed police chase.

Olivya Poole was jailed at Worcester Crown Court yesterday after she was convicted by a jury of causing death by dangerous driving in the crash near Hereford.

The 25-year-old, of Newton St Margaret, Hereford, sped away from a pursuing police car which was being driven on blue lights, and hit the chain-link fence at the SAS camp, killing her passenger, her 23-year-old boyfriend Liam Thomson.

The chase pursuit came to an end at Elm Green Road on December 17, 2016, when the VW Golf hit fencing bordering the Pontrilas Army Training Area and flipped onto its roof. The car left the road at a speed of 67 miles an hour. There was no evidence Poole had braked for the corner.

RELATED NEWS: Crash driver was 15 times over drugs limit

The judge said she was fortunate to have escaped serious injury.

The pursuit covered a distance of about one and a half miles at an average speed of 72 mph.

The police car that had been following Poole, which was from Ewyas Harold, hit the overturned Golf.

Mr Thomson, a father-of-two, was declared dead at the scene.

A blood sample showed Poole had 2.7mg of cannabis per litre of blood in her system. The legal limit is 2mg.

The crash left 27 metres of fencing and nine concrete posts damaged.

Matthew Brook, prosecuting, read out victim personal statements from the victim's father, Robert, and mother, Lisa, as family and friends sobbed in the court's public gallery.

Mr Thomson said his son was 6ft 5in tall but a gentle giant and "rough on the outside but like melted chocolate under that ego".

He said Liam's daughter would never be able to meet her father. She was born on Christmas Eve, just days after her father's death.

Mr Thomson said he saw the damaged police car at the scene and initially believed police had caused the crash and "covered it up".

He said it had not been foggy as Poole claimed.

"I don't know if she deliberately lied to me and tried to take me for a mug, or convinced herself she was telling the truth," Mr Thomson said.

He said the case had taken nearly three years to come to trial.

"It should never have got to this point as it was blatantly obvious she was responsible for what happened," he said.

Liam's mum Lisa Thomson said her life changed forever on December 18, 2016, at 2.05am when police came to her door to tell her Liam was dead.

"I collapsed to my knees. I was hysterical, screaming and shouting," she said. "I used to be bubbly and happy. Now I feel I'm a wreck."

She said she had six months off work and suffered depression and anxiety, struggling to sleep.

"I often feel guilty for being alive. No parent ever wants to lose a child before them," she said.

She described how it breaks her heart that her son will never meet the daughter who is the "spitting image" of him and who even had the same expressions. "Our whole family has been torn apart," she wrote.

Mrs Thomson said Poole had "shown no emotion in court and has never showed any remorse" and had "shown herself to be a liar".

She described Liam as "simply amazing" and said there was a huge attendance at his funeral.

She added: "He touched so many lives. I miss my boy with all my heart."

Adam Western, for Poole, said: "It was the very last thing in the world she wanted to happen."

He said Poole had also lost the man she loved.

"They were kindred spirits. Liam was Olivya Poole's best friend. She still thinks of him each day. She misses him each day," said Mr Western.

Judge Robert Juckes QC said: "There's nothing I can do in the sentence that I pass or the summary I make of the driving that resulted in this tragic death that can assist those who have suffered the loss."

He told Poole she had consumed brandy, anti-depressants and cannabis before the crash and that had resulted in her being more disinhibited. The judge said he suspected her driving was out of character.

Poole wept and put her head in her hands as she was jailed for five-and-a-half years.

The judge also banned her from driving for five years. This ban was extended by 33 months so it will begin when Poole is released on licence at the halfway point of the sentence.

She must also complete an extended driving retest.

After the hearing, Superintendent Sue Thomas, police commander for Herefordshire, said: "This is a tragic case and our thoughts remain with the friends and family of Mr Thomson.

"The incident has been subject to an independent investigation by the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC), who found no case to answer for misconduct against any of the police officers involved."