THE mother of a teenager who was given drugs by his father the day before he died in a road crash has spoken of her relief at his guilty plea.

Danny Packer, of Manor Road, Rushenden, Sheppey, died in November 2003 when the car he was driving collided with a Vauxhall Corsa along Marine Parade, Sheerness.

An inquest later revealed he had a combination of drugs and alcohol in his body. But his mother, Valerie Lind, has always maintained he was given the drugs by his father, Shaun Packer, who admitted in court on Monday supplying the 18-year-old with morphine the day before he died.

“All I ever wanted was recognition Shaun was wrong in what he did and now we’ve finally got it I’m not really sure how I feel. “I’m a bit numb really, but relieved,” she said.

“The job of a father is to protect and care for his son. Shaun did not do that.”

Packer is due to be sentenced on April 15, but the judge at Maidstone Crown Court said he had in mind a custodial sentence of four months.

Miss Lind said she was not concerned about the short sentence. “Perhaps I should be bothered, but I was never looking for him to go to prison, just for him to admit what he did, for Danny’s sake.

“It has been a long time coming and trying to be strong has been hard, but now it’s all over maybe Danny can rest in peace.”

Just before he died, Danny, who had two sisters and one brother, was on course to turn his life around and was studying for his GCSEs following a spell in prison.

His mother described him as a “lovable little devil”. “I miss him so much”, Miss Lind added. “On Monday night we all went to the grave and opened a bottle of champagne.

“We just wanted to be with him and for him to know justice has been done. “I would like to thank the police who have been so supportive through all of this.”