A 22-year-old man has been jailed for five years for the death of a mother-of-four who was crushed against a wall by his car as he was out celebrating his birthday.

Dustman Lee Razaq had bought the vehicle for his birthday but the celebrations turned to tragedy when, two-and-a-half times over the legal drink-driving limit, he lost control and hit single mother, Tracy Long, 39.

The mother-of-four died in hospital

Ms Long, from Cardiff, suffered fatal head injuries as Razaq, who admitted causing death by dangerous driving, tried to round a sharp bend in the city centre too quickly.

Cardiff Crown Court heard a man accompanying Ms Long needed to have his right leg amputated below the knee as result of the accident in August.

Razaq, a provisional licence holder, from Ely, Cardiff, also admitted drink-driving, having no driving licence and no insurance and was banned for five years.

Prosecutor Hugh Evans told the court Razaq had been driving his Citroen AX GT500 in the early hours of the day after his 22nd birthday.

He said Razaq had tried to negotiate the bend at up to 50mph but lost control and crashed into the wall around 0300 BST.

Four children

Mr Evans said: "His brother said he thought he had only had 10 driving lessons."

He said: "There was a young lady in the car with him, which may account for why it was that no sooner had they got into the car that the defendant started to increase his speed."

Despite pleas from his terrified passenger, Razaq continued his dangerous driving, said Mr Evans.

"The defendant tried to brake when he got to the corner and tried to turn into the skid.

"The probability is that the wheels locked. The car careered completely out of control."

It was only after the Razaq and his passenger stepped out of the car that they realised there was a woman on the ground.

No sentence passed for this offence can correlate to the loss of an innocent life or to the fact that four young children have lost their only parent

Judge Christopher Morton

Ms Long, who had four children aged five to 16, later died in hospital without regaining consciousness.

The court heard Razaq, who was said be in a trance-like state following the crash, had fled the scene but later gave himself up to police and failed a breath test.

Stephen Jeary, defending, said Razaq was "genuinely shocked" and "devastated" at the tragedy.

Mr Jeary said his client's remorse was for the victims, not for himself.

The family of Ms Long's friend, Ross Havard, 23, were said to be still devastated by his injuries.

Judge Christopher Morton said "No sentence passed for this offence can correlate to the loss of an innocent life or to the fact that four young children have lost their only parent.

"Not only was one person killed but the second person very badly injured.