THE widow of an Upton-upon-Severn man killed by a speeding driver lost three members of her family in just 18 months.

Joan Bouston's father and brother had already passed away before her husband Roy was killed by a speeding driver.

"This has changed our lives forever, nothing will be the same again," she said as Alexander Marsh was sentenced to 21 months in prison on Friday.

Mrs Bouston, her son Andrew Basterfield and wife Lianne, and daughter Angela sobbed as they revealed the void Mr Bouston's death had left in their lives.

Before Marsh's Transit ploughed into the 56-year-old grandfather's van last July, Mrs Bouston's father Geoff Steadman had died of cancer aged 75, followed by her brother, Michael, 50, who had a brain tumour.

"It just seemed to be one thing followed by something else, all within the space of 18 months," said Mrs Bouston, 51.

The family described Mr Bouston as "one of a kind" whose generosity knew no bounds.

A keen angler, he was born and bred in Upton-upon-Severn and was working for Malvern Hills District Council at the time.

He had returned to work just two months before following a hernia operation.

Mr Bouston had been a bachelor until eight years ago, and met his wife when the couple's mothers were living in the same sheltered housing block.

"It was a case of love at first sight. I remember the first time I met him and thought, you and I are going to be together," said Mrs Bouston, who has since moved to Halesowen to be nearer her children.

"We always kissed each other goodbye, every morning without fail. He used to say, 'if ever anything happens to me, you must get on with your life'. But I haven't been able to come to terms with this."

Mrs Bouston said the family were "disgusted" with the sentence passed on 22-year-old Marsh, of Rainbow Hill, Worcester.

"Nothing could ever replace Roy, but 21 months for a life? It shows there is no justice in this country.

"But we are trying not to feel bitter about what happened. Roy was the kind of man who would never bear a grudge against anyone."

Mr Basterfield, who has two children, Jessica, 5, and Kara, 11, said: "How do you explain to your children where their granddad has gone?"