A heartbroken woman discovered her boyfriend had been killed in a road accident as she retraced his commute after he was late home from work.
Devastated Lauren James, 29, stumbled across the immediate aftermath of the crash whilst out looking for engineer Louis McGovern.
She found out he was the victim after he had been hit by van whilst he was riding his Suzuki bike.
Kurt Sammon, 54, had jumped a red light whilst fielding an incoming call on his handsfree device and smashed into him.
Sammon had a record of motoring offences dating back to 2002 including driving whilst disqualified and had previously left a 13 year old boy to die in a hit and run crash.
He had also been been also been convicted multiple times of using a mobile phone at the wheel of his vehicle but had been spared a road ban after arguing "exceptional hardship" as he was a carer for his elderly mother.
At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, she relieved her ordeal as Sammon was jailed for seven years after being convicted of causing death by dangerous driving.
"There seems to be no remorse from the man who killed Louis," said Miss James. "This should never have happened and this man should not have even had a license to drive."
She added: "'Louis had told his mates he was going to propose to me on a mountain and I would have undoubtedly said yes without any hesitation. We discussed having children and having our own family.
"On the night, he text me to say he had finished work and was leaving. He was late getting home and I was wondering what was keeping him. I tried to ring him but he didn't answer.
"I rang my mum and she tried to reassure me. In the end, I decided to drive the route he would have driven home because I was so worried. I saw the police and I worried it might have been him.
"The officer time there had been an accident but said to me not to worry but I knew he had been involved."
A court heard Sammon had "one of the worst driving records ever seen" by prosecutors. In 2004 he was convicted of failing to stop after an accident after a Volvo 460 he was driving which had no insurance or MoT hit little Michael Weaver who was picking up a pizza.
The youngster who was mown down at 43mph died after suffering serious injuries to his ribs, a broken back and severed spinal chord.
Following the impact Sammon a former chef drove off and dumped his car two miles away. He had been drinking the heroin substitute methadone shortly before the tragedy and said he had been "in a bad way" following an argument with his boss at work.
He was initially charged with the more serious charge of causing Michael's death by dangerous driving but the charge was dropped after a key witness disappeared. He admitted lesser offences of failing to stop and report an accident, and having no insurance or MOT and is thought to have served just three months before being freed.
He was later convicted of using a mobile phone at the wheel in 2016 and 2018 and faced being banned under the totting up procedure but successfully argued "exceptional hardship" to keep his licence.
At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Sammon of Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, who now runs a car valeting company was convicted of causing Mr McGovern's death by dangerous driving. He was also banned from driving for 13 and a half years.
Prosecutor Robert Hall said Sammon may have been "distracted" by using his phone, with call data showing he received calls during the journey.
"There is no dispute he had been using his mobile phone but he says he was using the phone on handsfree," he said.
Defence counsel Stuart Neale said: " There is no concrete evidence that he was travelling while texts/emails/WhatsApp. He was distracted and oblivious to the red light however, he was distracted by thoughts or oncoming traffic not via his phone."
Sentencing, Judge Maurice Greene banned Sammon from driving for 13 and a half years and told him: "Louis had achieved a lot in his life. He had graduated with a Masters and was an engineer. He had a loving nature, empathy and was thoughtful towards others.
"You were grossly distracted at the time and you had driven a significant distance whilst using a phone and using WhatsApp. You have an appalling driving record."
