A man whose girlfriend burned to death in a car after he crashed into a tree while drunk has been jailed for six years.

Waqas Arshad (24), of Sherd Close, Luton, escaped the Citroen C4 after he ploughed into a tree in November last year but 17-year-old Emily Brady perished in the blaze.

Yesterday, Arshad was jailed for six years at Luton Crown Court after previously pleading guilty to causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed alcohol limit, and causing death by driving while uninsured.

The court heard Arshad was roughly twice the drink-drive limit at the time of the crash on November 2.

He left the Steppingley Road, Eversholt, Bedfordshire, at a sweeping bend, in wet conditions, ploughing into a tree and ending up in a field.

Natalie Carter, prosecuting, said when emergency services arrived Arshad twice told them there was nobody in the car and said he was a passenger.

She said Emily — Arshad's girlfriend of six months — was still wearing her seatbelt and her door had not been opened.

But yesterday Judge John Bevan said he could not be satisfied Arshad, who said he did not remember what had happened that night, would have given those answers if he had not been drunk and in shock after the accident.

He sentenced the 24-year-old to six years in prison and disqualified him from driving for eight years.

He said: “I have read the rambling 10-page letter which sets out how sad you are at causing the death of your girlfriend and I have no doubt whatever that you are.

“The contrast between that and the deeply moving impact statement from 17-year-old Emily Brady's mother, a nurse, forms an unbridgeable gulf.

“Her description of the loss she and her family suffered and continue to suffer at your hands cannot be put into words.

”It would be made worse had I been satisfied that your response to questions about her being in the car and whether you were the passenger were genuine and not a product of the shock caused by the injuries sustained.

“Had I thought that that was deliberate, the sentence would have been far more severe.”

The court also heard while Arshad was on bail after the crash, he was convicted of failing to provide a sample to police and was disqualified from driving.