A police officer had to nurse the three-week-old baby of Lisnaskea man Barry McManus who was killed by a drunk driver because his wife was so distressed when police told her of his death.
The devastating details of the circumstances surrounding Mr McManus' death were only overshadowed in Enniskillen Magistrates Court by the victim impact statement and a note provided from his young daughter.
42-year-old Vladimir Kovac from Carrowshee Park in Lisnaskea had earlier admitted causing death by dangerous driving.
Mr McManus had just become a father for the second time when tragedy struck.
The court heard how on the 11th June 2022 - which also happened to be Mrs McManus' birthday - Mr McManus had pulled his Renault Megane car onto the hard shoulder on the Belfast Road at Brookeborough when it was struck by Kovac's car.
Records showed Kovac was using his phone in the time up to the collision and that his accelerator pedal was fully depressed for the five second period before the collision, increasing his speed from 80mph to 95mph.
Experts ascertained Kovac's car, "Came right across the opposite side of the road and into the hard shoulder, rotated clockwise and travelled some 70 metres down the carriageway forcing Mr McManus' car backwards before it came to rest in a hedge."
When Kovac was arrested and interviewed following discharge from hospital, he claimed to have had an argument with is wife and admitted to drinking "at least five glasses of vodka" before getting into his car.
When asked how he felt about his actions, Kovac replied, "Very bad."
Mrs McManus' impact statement which was read out to the court, spoke of her devastating loss which happened in the most cruel of coincidences on her birthday, and spoke of the difficulty of seeing the defendant and his family in the area she lives when her husband is gone.
Mr McManus's daughter also provided a "heartrending note" to the court.
Addressing Kovac directly, Judge Richard Greene, said the length of his sentence would be likely measured in a significant number of years".
Sentencing is to take place on October 27th.
