A DANGEROUS drug driver has been jailed after she caused the death of her popular 'gentle giant' boyfriend following a high speed police chase.

Olivya Poole was jailed at Worcester Crown Court on Tuesday after she was convicted by a jury of causing death by dangerous driving following the fatal crash south west of Hereford.

The 25-year-old of Marlborough Lodge, Newton St Margaret, Hereford, sped away from a pursuing police car which was being driven on blue lights and crashed off the road into the chain-link fence at the SAS camp, killing her passenger - 23-year-old boyfriend Liam Thomson.

The high-speed pursuit came to an end at Elm Green Road on December 17, 2016 when the car hit fencing bordering the Pontrilas Army Training Area and flipped onto its roof. The car left the road at a speed of 67 miles an hour and there was no evidence Poole had braked for the corner and the judge said she was fortunate to have escaped serious injury.

The pursuit covered a distance of about one and a half miles at an average speed of 72 mph.

The police car, which had followed Poole from Ewyas Harold, hit the overturned Golf.

Mr Thomson, a father-of-two, was declared dead at the scene.

A blood sample showed Poole had 2.7mg of cannabis per litre of blood in her system. The legal limit is 2mg.

The crash resulted in 27 metres of fencing and nine concrete posts being damaged.

Matthew Brook, prosecuting, read out victim personal statements from the late man's father Robert and mother Lisa as family and friends sobbed in the court's public gallery.

Robert Thomson said that his son was 6ft 5ins but a 'gentle giant' and 'rough on the outside but like melted chocolate under that ego'.

He said Liam's daughter would never be able to meet her father. She was born on Christmas Eve, just days after her father's death.

Mr Thomson said he saw the damaged police car at the scene and initially believed police had caused the crash and 'covered it up'.

He said it had not been foggy as Poole claimed. "I don't know if she deliberately lied to me and tried to take me for a mug or convinced herself she was telling the truth" Mr Thomson said.

Liam's father said the case had taken nearly three years to come to trial. "It should never have got to this point as it was blatantly obvious she was responsible for what happened" he added.

His mum Lisa Thomson said her life 'changed forever' on December 18, 2016 at 2.05am when police came to her door to tell her Liam was dead.

"I collapsed to my knees. I was hysterical, screaming and shouting" she said. "I used to be bubbly and happy. Now I feel I'm a wreck."

Mrs Thomson said she had six months off work and suffered depression and anxiety, struggling to sleep.

"I often feel guilty for being alive. No parent ever wants to lose a child before them" she said.

She described how it 'breaks her heart' that her son will never meet the daughter who is the 'spitting image' of him and who even had the same expressions. "Our whole family has been torn apart" she wrote.

Mrs Thomson said Poole had 'shown no emotion in court and has never showed any remorse' and had 'shown herself to be a liar'.

His mum described Liam as 'simply amazing' and his funeral was 'heaving. She added: "He touched so many lives. I miss my boy with all my heart."

Adam Western, for Poole, said: "It was the very last thing in the world she wanted to happen." Mr Western said Poole had also lost the man she loved.

"They were kindred spirits. Liam was Olivya Poole's best friend. She still thinks of him each day. She misses him each day" said Mr Western.

Judge Robert Juckes QC said: "There's nothing I can do in the sentence that I pass or the summary I make of the driving that resulted in this tragic death that can assist those who have suffered the loss."

He told the defendant she had consumed brandy, anti-depressants and cannabis before the crash which resulted in her being more disinhibited. The judge said he suspected her driving was out of character.

Poole wept and put her head in her hands as she was jailed for five and a half years. The judge also banned her from driving for five years. This ban was extended by 33 months so it will begin when Poole is released on licence at the halfway point of the sentence.

She must also complete an extended driving retest.