The sister of a 23-year-old man has told a court how her family’s lives have been devastated by his death in a head-on crash involving a diabetic driver.

Aironas Gzimaila died when his Ford Fiesta was struck by a Vauxhall Corsa driven by Thomas Treadwell which had crossed on to the wrong side of the A120 between Ramsey and Parkeston, near Harwich.

Ipswich Crown Court heard Treadwell’s blood sugar levels had dropped dangerously low prior to the crash, causing him to go into hypoglycaemia.

The defendant, who pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving, had his licence revoked on two previous occasions because of poor management of his diabetes.

In a poignant impact statement read to the court, Mr Gzimaila’s sister Amanda said she would no longer be able to "laugh and cry" with her brother, who died instantly at 8.45pm on March 27, 2018.

She said: “How can such a pure soul be taken in such a heartless way? Everything happens for a reason, but there is no reason behind this.”

She paid tribute to her mother for staying strong in spite of the loss of her son.

She added: “Our dreams have turned to nightmares and our family has been changed forever. You have left my mother without a son and his sister without a brother. You have devastated our family.”

The court heard evidence from Dr Robert Moisey, a consultant in general medicine, diabetes and endocrinology, who said he could not describe Treadwell as being "not hypo-aware", but said he had "below average" levels of control compared to other diabetics.

He said biological factors can influence when an individual becomes hypoglycaemic after questions had been raised about what effect the carbohydrates from eating a sandwich and drinking a can of Red Bull would have had when he stopped at a service station at Marks Tey around 25 minutes before the collision.

In mitigation, James Thacker said Treadwell had shown remorse over the crash and had started using a monitor, rather than the standard finger prick test, to keep check on his blood glucose levels.

“This defendant will have to live the rest of his days knowing not that he is losing a loved one, but that he has caused a loved one’s death due to his carelessness and his actions, as family members have indicated in their carefully written statement,” Mr Thacker added.

Sentencing was adjourned to Monday morning (March 21).