THE mother of a six-year-old girl who died after her father crashed his car while drink-driving has urged motorists not to make the same mistake he did.

Fredericka Jarvis is still struggling to come to terms with the sudden death of her eldest daughter Robyn, who suffered head injuries when Andrew Brown lost control of his vehicle on the B4040 near Cricklade in August 1997.

Brown, then 37, of The Mead, Ashton Keynes, was jailed for nine months and banned from driving for 12 years after being found guilty of causing death by driving without due care and attention.

Fredericka, known as Freddie, said: “It’s been 21 years since Robyn died and it still feels awful, there’s just a big hole in my life, the pain is unimaginable.

“She stays with you, you just can’t see her, and we still try to include her in things and mark her birthdays.

“Her younger sisters Grace and Lianne are growing up and doing so well and I’m so proud of them, they’re such beautiful, kind, caring, lovely people, just like Robyn, and I wish she was here too. She made me a mum and she could have been a mum, she could have been anything.

“Some of Robyn’s cousins never met her, she’s only a picture and a name to them.”

Freddie, 53, vividly remembers the day she saw Robyn for the last time.

She said: “It was all so sudden, there was no opportunity to say goodbye, she just wasn’t there any more, like she’d been put on a train that only gets further and further away.

“My husband at the time was looking after Robyn and Grace because I was resting after working a night shift at the hospital, baby Lianne was at home with me. He took them out in the car and before they left I said to him, jokingly, ‘Don’t crash’, then half an hour later I got a phone call…

“I didn’t realise he was over the limit at the scene, I knew he’d had one drink but that was many hours earlier. Grace had whiplash and Robyn had one mark on her head. They airlifted Robyn to Bristol but she never woke up.

“It’s hard to get up in the morning every day, but I do it for my daughters, they’re so thoughtful and responsible, and I’ve drummed it into them to never ever drink and drive.”

Freddie wants to prevent other families from suffering the same immense heartbreak and devastating loss that her family has, so she’s supporting the police and Swindon Young Drivers in their campaigns to stop festive revellers from driving under the influence this December.

She spoke to 30 youngsters who were learning about road safety, getting behind the wheel for the first time, and wearing ‘beer goggles’ which showed how alcohol can affect their co-ordination.

Freddie added: “People don’t realise the consequences of their actions. They could kill someone and put parents in the same position as me which, believe me, is not a good place to be.

“To this day, I still see and hear of people drink-driving, drug-driving, or looking at their phones while driving, which is selfish and stupid, it seems lessons are never learnt.

“Of course you can go out for a drink on a Saturday night, I certainly do, but be responsible - get a taxi home and don’t drive the next day because it can take hours for alcohol to leave your system.”

PC Paul Hackford brought to the Young Drivers lesson a mangled wreck of a car which crashed sideways into a tree after the driver lost control of the vehicle while driving at 57 miles over the road’s speed limit and under the influence of alcohol, cocaine and ketamine.

The crash killed the driver instantly and his four passengers suffered injuries which ranged from life-threatening to minor cuts and bruises.

PC Hackford said: “Even if you’re under the alcohol limit, like the driver was, you can still be unfit to drive and hurt someone, it’s a miracle that the passengers survived.

“Driving is a complex activity and drinking doesn’t mix with it, you can’t afford to be impaired in any way. We’ve found that there are just as many people drink driving as there are drug driving.

“The shock factor of seeing this car in person is very effective, young people do take it in.

“They can often feel like they’re invincible, so it’s important for them to learn about these dangers from an early age.

“The message is hugely important, especially at this time of year where drinking high amounts of alcohol is normalised and acceptable.”