Builder 'too drunk to stand up' jailed for 10 years after he drove his van into coned-off area of motorway and killed highways worker

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 12:37 EDT, 28 September 2026 | Updated: 12:43 EDT, 28 September 2026 A builder who was ‘too drunk to stand’ has been jailed for ten years after he drove his van into a coned-off area on a motorway and killed a highways worker.Vilius Domarkas, 38, had just flown into Stansted Airport from his native Lithuania, where he had been in rehab for his drinking problem, when he crashed on the M23.He was ‘between three and four times’ over the alcohol limit when he ploughed into ‘gentle giant’ Anthony Howe, 65, from Kent, killing him instantly.Mr Howe had got out of his own vehicle just seven seconds earlier, on July 8, and was still holding the door handle when he was hit.Domarkas’s Citroen Relay came to a halt after 500m - but only because of an automatic fuel-cut-off triggered by the damage caused to the vehicle, Lewes Crown Court heard.Astonishingly, the Lithuanian did not notice he had hit the man, and called 999 to tell them his windscreen was broken.Domarkas, who had just split from his wife, had been seen driving ‘erratically’ and drifting between lanes in the moments before the crash.Prosecutor Naomi Edwards added that when police arrived, his speech was slurred and he was so unsteady on his feet that he fell over. Vilius Domarkas, 38, had just flown into Stansted Airport from his native Lithuania, where he had been in rehab for his drinking problem, when he crashed into a highways worker Domarkas, who had just split from his wife, had been seen driving ‘erratically’ and drifting between lanes in the moments before the crash Anthony Howes, 65, from Kent, was killed instantly on July 8A blood sample test he provided four hours later showed that he was over the legal limit for alcohol.And back calculations suggested he was as much as three to four times the limit at the time of the accident.Sentencing Domarkas, who pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, Judge Martin Huseyin said: ‘You called 999 but you were so drunk that you didn’t realise that you had hit a person.‘It’s truly shocking that as a man who was too drunk to stand up, you felt fit to drive on a motorway.’In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Howe’s partner Lilian Bonney said: ‘My entire world was ripped apart when Tony was killed.‘Tony completed me and without him I simply do not feel whole anymore. He was a gentle giant who could make anyone laugh with his cheeky personality.‘His future was taken away in the cruellest way. [Domarkas] made a choice that stole my happy-ever-after.’Andrew Bullivant, defending, said the father of two was 'genuinely remorseful' and had taken the fatal decision to drink, 'possibly because of the marital breakdown'.As well as the prison sentence, Domarkas, of no fixed address, was disqualified from driving for 16 years and eight months, and the judge ordered the forfeiture of his van.