A MAN from Liskeard has been jailed for three years after admitting causing a fatal crash while driving over the drink-drive limit, a collision that claimed the life of a 31-year-old passenger and left another seriously injured.

Jack Goodman, 27, of Golitha Rise, Liskeard, was sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court on Friday, January 23, after pleading guilty to causing death by careless driving while over the legal alcohol limit, and causing serious injury by careless driving.

The court heard that the collision happened at Halwell Cross, near Totnes, on Friday, April 26, 2024. Rear-seat passenger Thomas McNally, 31, known to friends and family as Tommy and from Torbay, died from his injuries two days later in hospital.

Goodman had been drinking heavily throughout the afternoon and evening before getting behind the wheel of his Seat Leon. Prosecutors said he consumed a pint of lager and eight pints of Guinness while drinking with work colleagues at a pub in Blackawton from around 2.30pm. He left shortly before 9pm with three passengers, dropping one off at Totnes railway station before continuing his journey.

During the drive, concerns were raised about Goodman’s manner of driving. One passenger sent a text message expressing fear at his speed, while a phone call answered inside the vehicle captured a passenger urging Goodman to slow down.

Emergency services were called to the scene at around 9.30pm. Officers found the car embedded in a hedge with extensive damage to the front end. Two men were critically injured, while Goodman sustained only minor injuries and was arrested at the scene.

Despite the efforts of police officers and medical professionals, Mr McNally died in hospital two days later as a result of catastrophic injuries. The front-seat passenger survived but sustained serious injuries and continues to recover from the incident almost two years on.

Goodman admitted both offences when he appeared at court on November 27, 2025. In addition to the three-year prison sentence, he was disqualified from driving for five years, to take effect following his release from custody.

Detective Sergeant Troy Bennett, from the Devon and Cornwall Police Serious Collisions Investigation Team, said the tragedy was entirely avoidable.

He said: “Detective Sergeant Troy Bennett, from the Serious Collisions Investigation Team, said: “In his summing up, Judge Robert Linford said that Goodman did not set out to cause the death of Tommy McNally and seriously injure his front seat passenger, however that consequence is exactly what happened because he drank to excess and then drove.

“This was a totally avoidable and utterly needless death. Driving whilst impaired through alcohol is one of the most dangerous behaviours identified in the ‘fatal five’ causes of serious injuries and deaths on our roads.

“My simple message to motorists is to not drink and then drive. This collision has had a devastating impact on the friends and family of Tommy, and also the other passenger, who is still recovering from his injuries almost two years later.”