THE victims’ families have described their devastation after the crash.

Anghelus Pieptea was 34 when he was killed, and had been considering buying a ring to propose to Robyn Smith.

His sister Petruta Ionesca said her youngest brother was like a son to her, and had moved to the UK when he was 28 to work in dementia care.

He was an uncle, and was the youngest of four siblings.

At Lewes Crown Court Ms Ionesca said: “He was a popular member of his team.

“He was a gentle, caring person, who looked after his residents well, and will be greatly missed by his colleagues and friends.

“He was suddenly stolen from us, without us being able to say goodbye.

“It has left our mother in pieces.

“Words cannot describe the pain we feel when we think of him.

“He had a great future ahead of him, and it was cruelly taken away that night. Our once happy life was shattered as we have lost a precious member of our family.

“Christmas is meant to be a time of celebration and joy, but not it will never be the same again.

Meanwhile Ellisha Adams’ mother Anne said her daughter’s life was “destroyed”.

She said: “It’s impossible to explain the feelings and emotions of being woken up early to be informed your daughter has been seriously injured in a road traffic accident.

“It took us 45 minutes to get to the hospital, and we went right past the crash scene not knowing if our girl was alive or dead.

“Upon arrival, we were told by doctors in no uncertain terms that she had horrific head and facial injuries, and she was unlikely to survive the next 24 hours.

“We saw her with a blanket over her face. When they removed it, Ellisha was unrecognisable. She no longer had any contours or shape to her face, she could have been anybody.

“There were no recognisable features and no resemblance to the beautiful Ellie we had known and loved. That will haunt us for the rest of our lives.”

After the case, she said there could be “no gratification” from the outcome, and said her daughter will never be able to lead a normal adult life.

Instead she is unable to express emotions, struggles to answer basic questions, and has sleeping and eating disorders that mean she requires constant supervision.

In a statement she said: “Our sincere thanks go out to the emergency services who attended the horrific accident scene, the air ambulance, and the doctors and nurses at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton who all worked tirelessly to ultimately save our daughter’s life.

“Hopefully the sentence imposed will draw closure on this nightmare, and as a family we can return to caring for our daughter and helping her rebuild her life.”