We invited the man who killed our son to his funeral and would have hugged him – but then he showed his true colors
The grieving parents of a teenager killed in a car crash invited the driver to his funeral, saying they would have hugged him but he showed his true colors.
Jack Paolucci and his fiancée Courtney Jennings were killed in October 2021 in a car driven by Bradley Clough that plowed into a tree.
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Jack’s parents Ben and Becky Paolucci said they talked to Clough at their son’s wake and “would have given him a hug” if he had admitted the truth.
Clough, 25, was convicted of causing death by carelessness the drivingwith the judge saying it was ‘not particularly appealing’ that he had lied to police about being dazzled by oncoming lights.
The Renault Clio Clough was driving overloaded with seven people inside when the car crashed into a tree.
Jack and Courtney, both serving soldiers, were killed and two other passengers were injured.
Clough, a soldier in the Royal Fusiliers, was jailed earlier this month and now Jack’s parents, from Stockland Green, Erdington, Birminghamhave spoken at length.
The couple said they just wanted Clough to show some remorse, adding that they were still waiting to find out exactly how their son died, more than two years after the tragedy.
Yes, we invited him to the funeral, but after that he showed his true colors.
Jack’s father Ben Paolucci
They said they were woken up at their home in the early hours of October 30, 2021, and told the horrific news that their son, a lance corporal with the 1st Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, had died.
Becky told me Birmingham Live: “Two police officers knocked on our door, just after three in the morning.
“They told us Jack had died. We asked about Courtney because they were bonded. One didn’t go anywhere without the other.
“They said Courtney had passed away too. You can’t grieve well – we didn’t know what happened.
“We just wanted him (Clough) to show some sort of remorse. All we wanted was for him to just admit it.
“Here’s what was hard: just the lies. They tried to make him regret it. He said he felt ‘shocked’.”
Ben said: “Originally we felt sympathy for the driver. If Jack had been driving, we know how bad he would have felt.
“Yes, we invited him to the funeral, but after that he showed his true colors.”
Clough drove his loaded car, including Jack, 19, and Courtney, 18, to a Halloween party at a club in Andover, Hampshire, on October 29, 2021.
But Clough lost control of the vehicle at a corner near their vehicle army barracks in Tidworth, Wiltshire.
The car left the road and crashed into a tree shortly before 10 p.m.
A jury at Winchester Crown Court heard that no one in the back seat was wearing a seat belt and that a screw in a tire caused a slow puncture.
Passengers Kallum Ryan and Jack Latus were seriously injured in the crash.
People have asked ‘should Bradley have gone to jail?’ If he had said, “I’m an idiot, I’m so sorry it happened,” I would have given him a hug. But he didn’t grant us that.
Ben Paulucci
After a week-long trial last December, Clough, from Bacup in Lancashirewas acquitted of two charges of causing death by dangerous driving and a further two of causing serious injury by dangerous driving after the crash.
However, he admitted two counts of causing death by careless driving and was jailed for three years.
Ben and Becky said they knew very little about the events before the trial began.
They said they were still waiting to hear their son’s cause of death and were still waiting for a full death certificate after more than two years.
But they added that the most difficult part had been the alleged inability of Clough and some other passengers to truthfully tell them what had happened.
After being informed of their son’s death, Ben and Becky traveled to Wiltshire and were met Police in a hospital parking lot, where they said they were “told everything.”
They also said Courtney’s family had been notified Tesco parking spot.
The parents said, “We wish it had been done somewhere else.”
But they claimed it was only in court that they learned what injuries their son had suffered.
Becky said: ‘We weren’t told what he died of.
“His injuries were part of the accident analysis. We received an interim death certificate, but the cause of death was not disclosed. We heard in court that it was a head and chest injury.”
Because he does not have a full death certificate, Jack is still on the electoral roll and his parents continue to receive letters for him.
Becky said, “You can’t really grieve. You have all these things that you have to wait for before you can move on.
“As nurses, we know he had a pulse when he was pulled out of the car. But we don’t know what happened then.”
Ben and Becky said Clough’s brother Oliver was in the passenger seat in the Clio.
Some of the group, including Jack and Courtney, had agreed to take a taxi, but changed their minds when it didn’t show up.
Jack’s parents said they learned more details bit by bit during the five-day trial.
They said, “We didn’t know anything. We saw the CCTV footage just before we went to court.”
DRIVEN TO SLOW DOWN
Jack Latus, who was also in the back of the car, had urged Clough to slow down and said: “Brad, chill” shortly before the crash.
Passenger Andrew Hill told the court that an oncoming car had its lights on high beam and “blinded Clough as he came around the corner”.
But during the trial Clough said: ‘I was wrong. There was a bright light.”
CCTV footage shows that there were no other cars in the area at the time of the accident.
Ben and Becky added that they were angry that Clough had posted photos of his new car within weeks of the accident, and another photo of him posing “flexibly” just before the trial.
Ben added: “Bradley texted us right before the funeral. He said, ‘I don’t know what to say.’ We invited him and his brother to the funeral. He seemed sincere. I talked to them throughout the aftermath of the funeral.
“If that was the person who continued the whole process, I don’t think it would have gone to court. It wasn’t about what he did, it was about how he responded to it.
“We all grew up driving cars and doing things we shouldn’t have done. People have asked ‘should Bradley have gone to jail?’ If he had said, “I’m an idiot, I’m so sorry it happened,” I would have given him a hug. But he didn’t grant us that.
“They were a very close group – Jack, Jack Latus, Kallum Ryan. We have thousands of photos of them with Courtney. Jack’s room was the main area where they met. Most of their group have left town army now. We thought these were his friends.”
Along with his jail Clough was banned from driving for three and a half years and will have to pass an extensive driving test before he can get behind the wheel again.
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