It should have been a fun night out for a group of lads from Wantage, writes Andrew Ffrench. But one teenager's decision to drink and drive on May 3, 1998, destroyed the lives of more than one family.

Gareth Evason, 19, said goodbye to his mum and dad that night and walked out of their lives.

The next time his mother Jane saw him he was lying dead in hospital.

The evening had started well for Gareth and his friends, who had enjoyed a night out at Challow Country Club.

It was only after the pals left the club that things started to go wrong. Gareth, who had only drunk two pints, started to walk home with some of the others. His friend Mark Snewin was about to join them, when for some reason - perhaps it was the cold - he changed his mind and got into his Nissan Cherry.

Earlier that night, he had been with Gareth, nicknamed Spider, in the Lamb Inn in Wantage.

By the time he got behind the wheel, he was two-and-a-half times over the legal limit. Moments after starting the car, he smashed into Gareth, who was walking to the main road to get a taxi, and knocked him into a ditch.

Gareth was flung on to the bonnet and died from a broken neck and other injuries after being hit in Woodhill Lane. Snewin, 19, of East Hill Lane, Challow, didn't stop and probably would have tried to drive the short distance to his home if he had not collided with a Peugeot taxi.

Earlier this year, he started a four-year sentence at a young offenders' institute after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, while under the influence of alcohol.

Judge Harold Wilson told Snewin: "I acknowledge your undoubted remorse. But the fact remains, you were nearly two-and-a-half times over the limit. You drove, your friend has died."

Snewin was also disqualified from driving for four years and ordered to take an extensive driving test, before he can get behind the wheel again. Jane Evason, 42, of Evenlode Close, Grove, misses her son Gareth every day. But she doesn't hold Snewin's parents responsible for their son's actions.

Her husband Michael, 46, an administrator at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, is still very bitter that his son has been taken away from him and cannot forgive.

Jane, who tells her own harrowing story on Fox FM's Christmas advertising campaign to remind people not to drink and drive, is adamant that Snewin should have been prosecuted.

"The Snewins will still have their son when he comes out of prison and they will be able to start again. "Gareth has been taken from us and now all we have is a grave to place flowers on."

The Evasons have another son, Neil, 19, who has been faced with the difficult task of trying to help his parents cope with their grief, while at the same time dealing with his own suffering.

"Neil and Gareth were very close, so he misses him terribly," says Jane, "we all do."

"What happened has destroyed so many lives. If Mark had got out of the car to try to help Gareth what happened would have been a tiny bit easier to take.

"That night we said goodbye to Gareth and then we had to see him on the mortuary slab." Jane's voice is cracked with emotion when she talks about how angry she is about the senseless death of her popular 6ft 4in tall son.

"He was very popular," she adds. "Everyone loved him so much and now we are just left with his photographs." It was because of her anger over her son's death that she agreed to appear on Fox FM's advert warning about the dangers of drink-driving.

As a member of the national group Cadd (Campaign Against Drink Driving), she is knowledgeable about drink-drive statistics and Government campaigns to reduce road deaths.

She talks regularly with other parents who have been bereaved in a similar way and attended Cadd's AGM in London in May. Jane works three hours a day at a newsagent's in Grove, where she has been overwhelmed by the messages of support from members of the public, who have heard her radio adverts, in which she talks about 'how precious' life is.

"When Fox FM approached me I said yes straight away," she adds, "because if what I have said saves at least one life then it will be worth it. I think this year's campaign, which suggests 'Doing a Des' - having a designated driver who will stay sober for the drive back - is an excellent idea.

"People shouldn't even have one drink when they are driving because one drink can lead to two or three. I am all in favour of zero tolerance, where drink-driving is concerned, but it may be some time before laws are changed. "We are trying to get the message through to the 17 to 28-year-olds because they are particularly at risk. If you have an accident you could kill not just one person but four or five.

"The tragic thing is that Mark was going to walk home with Gareth but something made him change his mind and get into his car. If only he had made the right decision."

Story date: Friday 17 December

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