A GRIEVING woman said the driver who killed her partner while he was using his mobile phone on the A34 was not a ‘murderer’ but will have to live with the guilt for the rest of his life.

Meg Williamson’s boyfriend Gavin Roberts, 28, died in hospital after a Vauxhall Corsa driven by Lewis Stratford crashed through a central reservation on the A34 and smashed into the BMW he was driving head on in June last year.

Last night, a meeting between Ms Williamson, an English teacher from Swindon, and 24-year-old Stratford, who pleaded guilty to death by dangerous driving, was broadcast by BBC South Today.

Ms Williamson said she did not feel angry any longer about the death of her boyfriend and said she wanted to use her grief and pain to prevent similar tragedies happening again.

She added: “I wanted to meet him [Stratford] straight away when we were at the hospital, but I think at that point it was more anger.

“The hardest part was starting the conversation.

“He is just a normal person. Anybody can make that stupid mistake and can be distracted. He was very compassionate with how he was feeling.”

Ms Williamson said in the programme that she sat and prayed for Mr Roberts to wake up when he was on a life-support machine.

She said: “Eventually I realised I wanted to meet Lewis. His actions had taken away Gavin. My anger had passed, but I needed to know what had happened.

“I wanted to know what he was thinking, what possessed him to pick up his mobile phone behind the wheel. I wanted to know how he was feeling now.”

Stratford had been involved in ‘emotional phone calls’ moments before a horror crash. He will be sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Friday.