THIS is the moment a man who killed his girlfriend’s brother on the first night they met is snared by cops.
Drunk driver Stephen Bates sobbed “I’m going to prison” as officers arrested him on April 18 this year.
CCTV footage shows the tragic moment the 42-year-old speeds down a residential street in Woolton, Liverpool.
Bates can be seen in his Ford Fiesta on Stonyhurt Road after leaving his mum’s 70th birthday bash.
Seconds after the clip ends, Bates struck 47-year-old Martin O’Donovan.
Martin had tried to stop him getting behind the wheel after downing pints, Jagerbomb shots and Redbull Vodkas at the party.
Bates turned aggressive when his girlfriend’s brother tried to prevent him getting in the car.
The argument ended in a punch-up outside the house, with Bates shouting: “Look at you. You’re a f****** p****. You’re a c***. You’re all c****.’”
Natalie O’Donovan, Bates’ girlfriend, drove him away but described him as “furious”.
He made the decision to drive back and rammed into Martin, who had been sitting on a wall outside.
The 47-year-old sadly died in hospital after suffering two cardiac arrests, extensive injuries to his skull, chest and abdominal injuries.
Bates turned himself in and told officers: “I know what I’ve done. I’ve f***** up.
“They’re not moving. They’re not breathing. We had an argument, and I’ve run him over. You need to send someone quick. I’ve done the crime. I don’t know what we were arguing over, but it’s my girlfriend’s brother.”
Bates told Liverpool Crown Court he had returned to the home in order to work things out with Martin.
“When I got out the car and I saw his legs under the car. Just total shock. I didn’t know what I’d done. I couldn’t believe it,” he said while giving evidence.
However this was dismissed by Judge Neil Flewitt KC, who slammed it “a blatant attempt to avoid responsibility”.
He also told Bates he was sure the tragedy was “a spontaneous decision, fuelled by alcohol and rage”.
The judge told the court he “deliberately” drove the car onto the pavement to hit Martin.
He concluded it was “a determined act of aggression” towards the 47-year-old, who had “done nothing” wrong.
“I cannot be sure that you intended to kill Martin O’Donovan,” he said.
“In my judgement, what you did was so dangerous and carried with it such an obvious risk of death that you gain little benefit from the absence of an intention to kill.”
Andrew Haslam KC, defending, argued there was no evidence of “planning or premeditation”.
He also told the court it was “out of character” and there was “a lack of intention to kill”.
Mr Haslam continued: “He has always accepted that he caused the deceased’s death by his unlawful act.
“He has to live with the knowledge that, even on his own admission, he caused the loss, the death of a father, of a son, of a brother and a much loved friend to many people, it would seem.”
Upon sentencing the judge told Bates: “I want to begin by saying something about Martin O’Donovan, who was only 47 years of age when he died on the 19 of April this year.
“He died on what should have been a day of celebration, to mark his mother’s 70th birthday. Instead, the day ended in tragedy, with guests at the party being devastated by the violent death of a man whom they loved dearly.
“His sisters have lost their protector, a man who they regarded as loving, strong and fiercely loyal.
“Susanne [Lewzey, Bates’ girlfriend]’s grief has been made even worse by the knowledge that the man who killed her beloved brother was a man who she trusted and never thought would do anything to harm her or her family.”
Bates was today sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 18 years behind bars.
