PROUD mum Vicky Simpson smiled as she looked at the photo she'd just uploaded to Facebook of 18-year-old son Liam, all ready for his first ever night out.
He looked particularly smart as earlier that day the 41-year-old had taken him to the barbers, before cooking his favourite pasta dinner.
However, unbeknownst to her at the time, this would be the last time she'd ever see her eldest son alive.
Just minutes after she'd taken the photo, Liam was killed by a hit-and-run driver.
Now heartbroken Vicky is speaking out in memory of her beloved son – after the man behind the wheel, Daniel Beck, now 34, was let out of prison after only serving half his sentence.
Vicky, a support worker from Holywell in Flintshire, North-East Wales, says: "Liam was the kindest soul and loved by everyone.
READ MORE REAL LIFE
My son is a record 6ft 3in tall aged 12 – getting school uniform is a nightmare
As a kid we couldn’t afford choc – now I earn six figures & my kids eat caviar
“We had the best day before he went out – I cooked his favourite tea, Spaghetti Bolognese, to make sure he'd lined his stomach.
“I made sure to get his hair cut and picked out some clothes for him as he mainly had sports clothes.
"Before he left I made him stand for some pictures because he looked so lovely.
"Little did I know that it would be the last picture of him. As soon as I uploaded them to Facebook, he was already gone."
Most read in The Sun
Harry and Meghan evicted from Frogmore Cottage by King Charles after Spare memoir
Emmerdale's Amy Nuttall caught cheating hubby after sexy lingerie slip-up
Constance Marten and lover arrested over ‘manslaughter’
Woman found ‘murdered’ is missing mum who had not been seen since before Xmas
7'We wanted him to go and have fun'
Liam, Vicky's eldest and an avid football fan, had just started playing for Holywell Town F.C, when he was invited on a night out at a club for his friend Kiran Creedy's 18th birthday.
Vicky says her son, who dreamed of becoming a primary school teacher, was reluctant to go as he “wasn’t much of a drinker” and had a match on the next day.
After some convincing from Vicky and her partner Mike, 38, a bricklayer, Liam decided to join his mates on September 30, 2017.
Vicky recalls: "It was hard to let him go on the night out, only because I had the usual motherly worries.
"I never thought that would be the last time I'd see him.
It was hard to let him go on the night out, only because I had the usual motherly worries. I never thought that would be the last time I'd see him
"He'd been reluctant to go because he had a football match the next day, but me and Mike had convinced him.
"I had Liam when I was 17, so we had an extremely close bond.
"He always helped me out with his younger brothers – Jack, 21, Max, 15, Jace, 10, and Owen, four. We wanted him to go have some fun.
"We are the kind of family who doesn't leave a room without saying 'I love you' and the last thing he said to me was, 'I love you, Mum, don't worry about me, I'll see you in the morning'."
Devastating injuries
Liam left the house around 6.30 pm that night. Around 6.45pm he was struck from behind by Beck, who was driving a BMW at around 60mph on a road with a 30mph speed limit.
Doctors later said the teenager suffered devastating brain injuries and would have been killed instantly.
Vicky continues: "We had caught wind that something had happened on Well Hill, as the road had been blocked off.
"Mike tried calling Liam a couple of times but didn't get through, so he went to the Hill to see what was going on, as he sensed that it had something to do with Liam.
"He was escorted back to the house by a police officer, and it was then when he came crashing in saying, 'he's passed away'.
"I couldn't believe it because 'passed' sounded so formal and surely it couldn't be about my Liam.
"But when the police officer confirmed it, it was the worst news any parent could receive.
"That night I lay in Liam's bed and sobbed all night – I didn't sleep a wink."
Heartbreakingly, Vicky then had to identify Liam's body, while she was 16 weeks pregnant.
"That day will haunt me forever," she admits. "I still have flashbacks and will never be able to unsee his lifeless body on that trolley in the morgue.
"It was the most horrific thing I have ever had to do.''
Beck was arrested three days later and, after refusing to comment, he claimed he was driving within the speed limit and had no recollection of running away.
Cowardly Beck, then 29, had fled the scene and checked into Arrowe Park Hospital, Merseyside, for treatment on his own injuries.
At the time he was on licence for an eight year sentence for burglary and actual bodily harm and had a string of previous convictions.
He had also previously been spotted driving at pedestrians not long before he ran Liam down.
In December 2018, Beck appeared before Mold Crown Court and pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, driving without a licence, and without insurance.
Beck's barrister Simon Parry said: “He is genuinely and deeply sorry for the damage he has done.”
He was sentenced to eight years in prison and banned from driving for an extended period of nine years.
'My baby will never come home'
In December last year the devastated family was informed that Beck had been released on licence – having only served four years behind bars.
If he does not adhere to the licence conditions, he can be recalled back to custody.
Vicky says: "Beck will be able to go about, live his life and go back to his family, but my baby will never come home.
"It's devastating. He was on licence when he killed Liam – what's stopping him taking another precious life?"
It's devastating. He was on licence when he killed Liam – what's stopping him taking another precious life?
Despite the pain, Vicky is working hard to ensure Liam's memory lives on.
She says: "Liam is the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing at night.
"His memory still lives on in all of us and I'm determined to keep talking about him.
"Beck being released does not mean that he's forgotten, he never can be.
Read More on The Sun
Art Attack’s Neil Buchanan unrecognisable after quitting TV for rock band
New winter sun hotspot 5 hours from UK with 27C heat where TUI is launching hols
"I will never stop talking about him because I love him more and more every day.
"I take comfort in that when I go, he'll be waiting for me."
Source: Read Full Article