A VAN driver with a previous conviction of causing death by dangerous driving has been jailed for 14 years after causing the death school caretaker Jeff Argent (above).
Mr Argent, 49, from Birkdale, was killed on the Formby Bypass last October when his Renault Clio smashed into a lamp post after being forced off the road.
'I'm unable to get through the day until I get to the cemetery and sit on the grass and cry and talk to him'
Colin Scarisbrick, 39, of no fixed address, was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving last month at Liverpool Crown Court after a six day trial in which he insisted he was innocent.
It was revealed during the hearing that Scarisbrick had a previous conviction for the same offence in 1999 when he ran motorist Damien Tudor off the road in south Wales, causing him to hit a lamp post, before a 10 mile pursuit by police.
During the trial, the jury heard how Scarisbrick and the father of two had been arguing while driving along the A565 on October 7, 2013.
Colin ScarisbrickAs Mr Argent moved his car into the outside lane Scarisbrick steered his van in front, clipping the Clio and forcing Mr Argent'across the carriageway and into a lamppost. Scarisbrick left the scene without stopping and the Tansey's Bread van he was driving was later found abandoned.
Jeff Argent worked as a caretaker at Ursuline primary school in Blundellsands and was a Sefton Tourism ambassador.
His widow, Debbie, had told the court: “Personally I'm unable to get through the day until I get to the cemetery and sit on the grass and cry and talk to him.
“That is the only reason I get up out of bed in the morning.”
On the day of his death, Mr Argent had taken the morning off work to go for a routine flu jab.
Read Angie Sammons' tribute to Jeff Argent here
