Nathan Towers got into a car crash with Jess Waterman in the passenger seat (Picture: Essex Police)

A man with no driver’s license who left his fatally injured girlfriend to die after crashing his car has been jailed.

Nathan Towers, 33, got behind the wheel of his red Mini to pick up Jess Waterman, 20, on the evening of February 19 last year in Epping, Essex.

Essex Police said they received four 999 calls about a crash from a man who said he had stumbled across a single-vehicle collision.

Officers would discover the wreckage of the Mini on Houblons Hill with Jess suffering from a severe head injury in the passenger seat.

Jess, from Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, was rushed to hospital but died less than 24 hours later.

For Jess’ family, she was many things. A ‘beautiful daughter’, a ‘treasured older sister’ and ‘vibrant and caring’.

After the collision, Essex Police traced Towers to his address in Broadoaks the following day at 1:30am to find him washing muddy clothing.

Towers was described by police as ‘callous’ and ‘cold’ by the victim’s family (Picture: Essex Police

Handcuffing him, officers discovered his mobile phone matched the same number used to phone the police.

Doorbell footage showed Towers pulling up outside Jess’ home in the same clothing found in the washing machine.

When pressed by officers, Towers insisted that while he had bought the Mini only days before the crash, his friend was actually driving, the force said.

But the doorbell footage clearly showed Towers in the driver’s seat.

Towers hadn’t even passed his driver’s test, lead investigator Inspector Mark Fraser, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said.

‘Nathan Towers flouted the law by driving his car despite never passing a driving test,’ he said.

Jess was days away from celebrating her 21st birthday (Picture: Essex Police)

‘That night, after losing control of his vehicle in a collision which tragically caused Jess to lose her life, he callously and selfishly fled the scene to avoid arrest, with no regard for Jess or her injuries.’

Towers was jailed for four years and three months at Chelmsford Crown Court on Tuesday.

He admitted to causing death by careless driving as well as to perverting the course of justice and fraud.

‘Jess’s family have lost both a daughter and a sister and no length of sentence will bring her back, but I hope today’s sentencing brings some closure to a tragically sad event,’ Fraser added

Jess’ family said that she was only three days away from her birthday after the incident.

‘She had been looking forward to celebrating her milestone birthday with her family and friends, but all arrangements had to be cancelled,’ they said.

She was ‘beautiful and vibrant’, her family said (Picture: Essex Police)

‘The pain is indescribable. We wouldn’t wish this on anyone.’

Her family said that though the sentence brings them some relief, ‘we can never forgive or forget the cold, calm and calculated actions of Nathan Towers’.

‘Our Jess was a beautiful, vibrant, and caring young woman who had touched the lives of so many,’ the family added.

‘No length of sentence will ever feel enough as nothing can bring her back. She was our light, and our world is a darker place without her.

‘We will always love you, Jess.’

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‘We will always love you, Jess.’