Two years ago Winston Chau was driving home with his mum after celebrating his niece's birthday - then tragedy struck.

A speeding drink-driver lost control of his car, on St Albans Road in Redbourn, and crashed into Winston's car head on.

CCTV footage from a nearby garage showed the drink-driver's car 'fishtailed' around a roundabout, before it accelerated to more than 65mph in a 30mph zone.

Winston, who was 36 at the time, died in the crash. His mother, Cam Chau, suffered major injuries that she is still living with to this day.

The seatbelt had cut through her stomach - damaging her major organs like her lungs, heart and intestines - and she had a fractured cheekbone and fractured arm.

She went through intense operations and now has a hole in her stomach, which is covered with mesh and a skin graft.

The drink-driver that day was TJ Sam Quirke, from Down Edge, Redbourn. On November 27 this year he was jailed for five years and three months at St Albans Crown Court.

But it's Winston's family who have been left serving a life sentence as they still come to terms with the loss of the popular EasyJet cabin crew training officer.

"I just wanted to split myself in two when the officers told me what happened"

Winston (left) and family just hours before the tragedy at his niece's birthday party

Lee Chau, Winston's brother, who lives in St Albans still struggles to comprehend what happened that fateful day - May, 12, 2018.

"I just wanted to split myself in two when the officers told me what happened so half of me could stay with my brother and half could go to the hospital with my mum," he said.

"Our whole family were left devastated.

"It was difficult to try and deal with two different circumstances with two different people."

Lee also found out about the tragic incident after driving to the scene itself.

After failing to hear from Winston and Cam about whether they had got home safe from the birthday party he located them on the Find My Friends app.

When he realised they weren't moving, and were staying still on the same road, he rushed straight to the scene.

He arrived to find the road completely cordoned off with police officers already there.

"I was just fearing for the worst with all these ambulances flying by," said Lee.

"I just knew it was them that was involved in the accident, even though I wasn't getting any information."

"Your priority has to be with the one that's living, right?"

Around 30 minutes later, officers asked Lee to identify himself at the scene and Winston and Cam were identified to him.

Lee was then forced to make the hardest decision after learning that Winston hadn't made it.

"He was dead, so your priority has to be with the one that's living, right?" he said.

"So we went to the hospital to support our mum, all our energy went there."

While the police drove Lee to the hospital in London, paramedics were trying to get Winston out his car where he was stuck.

Following, Quirke's sentence, the Chau family have since written to their local MP campaigning for longer sentences for those driving under the influence of alcohol.

Lee expressed how people are consciously making that decision on their own, to go out and put others in danger and eventually kill them.

"It's just not worth taking the risk and risking people's lives because it has a devastating impact on families like us, just for a drink," he said.

"Is that how much the system values my brother's life?"

EasyJet named an aeroplane after Winston in memory of him

It has now been two years since the tragic incident, with Winston still someone who is missed by his family and everyone who knew him.

EasyJet even named one of their planes after him in his memory, but for Lee and his family they are still coming to terms with the loss of their beloved brother, son and uncle.

Lee said: "I feel like I've been let down by the system as the killer got five years and three months, but he'd be out in half that time.


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He added: "He's lucky to go back to his normal life and his family, but it's us that will be serving that life sentence."

Quirke admitted causing death by dangerous driving and drink-driving, and he also admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving and having no insurance.

He was jailed for five years and three months and was banned from driving for 87 months.