Tragic Loss and Restorative Justice Meeting
A mother who lost her 17-year-old daughter in a drug-driving crash embraced the man responsible as they shared an emotional moment together in prison.
Chloe Hayman died in July 2022 when a car driven by Keilan Roberts, who had consumed cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine, and was over the legal alcohol limit, crashed following a night out in Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf.
Through restorative justice, Danielle O'Halloran, Chloe’s mother, met Roberts behind bars seeking closure, answers, and a way to live as a mother "who isn't just here to survive".
She now hopes that one day they can speak together in schools to warn young people about the devastating consequences of driving under the influence and the lives it destroys.
Remembering Chloe
Danielle, 37, from Mountain Ash, described Chloe as her best friend,
"beautiful inside and out"who always saw the good in everyone.
After a music event ended at 04:00 BST, Danielle said Chloe stayed behind when her friends left and trusted Roberts, who claimed he had arranged a lift.
About five minutes from his house, Roberts decided to exit the vehicle and drive his own car so he could take Chloe home the following morning.
Moments later, the car struck a cattle grid, and a railing pierced the windscreen, killing Chloe instantly.
Impact on Danielle and Legal Proceedings
Police informed Danielle of her daughter’s death hours later — a moment she described as too painful to relive.
"The only way I can describe it for anyone to feel is, say you went to a petrol station and you filled up your car with fuel and your kids are in the car and you go in to pay and you come back and they're gone,"
"Your body can't cope with the fact that they're not there.
Like at that moment, I was just in shock."
In the months following Chloe’s death, Danielle said she was overwhelmed by grief, anger, and hate, struggling to eat, sleep, or function properly.
"Every time I remember getting out of bed for months and months, as soon as I become conscious of being awake, I'd cry because I'd be reminded of her not being here and having to get through that day,"
Roberts, from Rhymney, Caerphilly county, admitted to four charges related to Chloe’s death.
After his sentencing in June 2023, Danielle’s family successfully appealed, increasing his prison term to five years and three months and extending his driving ban to 12 years and seven and a half months.
Danielle’s Journey from Anger to Forgiveness
Danielle admitted she was initially "really angry" and hated Roberts, feeling that anger gave her some control.
However, she recognized that the anger was harming her and refused to let it consume her life.
"I just wished so many bad things upon him, I wanted him to stay there forever.
But I felt ill inside with the amount of anger and hate that I had.
And a lot of people can live with that because they somehow tell themselves that that's OK.
But for me, I don't hate anyone, I'm not that kind of person.
And I just thought, I can't allow this feeling to eat me up any more because I don't think I could go through life feeling this."
Eventually, Danielle chose to focus on understanding "every angle of the accident."
Meeting Keilan Roberts
About a year after the crash, Danielle decided to meet Roberts, who was then 22 years old.
"We were both emotional when he walked in,"she said, explaining she had many questions, including why he had taken drugs that night.
Soon, Danielle realized Roberts had not intended to kill Chloe but was a 21-year-old who had made a "wrong choice."
"He's a human being who thought what he did was right,"she added.
"I hugged him and said, 'I'm sorry you're the one who has to live with this'.
I was able to understand it from all angles with this situation and it was tragic."
Danielle believes no prison term could outweigh the lifelong regret and guilt Roberts carries, adding:
"I think actually coming back into the community is harder because you've got to face people."
She described forgiveness not as condoning the act but as releasing bitterness so it no longer dominates one’s feelings.
Meeting Roberts gave her closure, and she added:
"I know that she wasn't in pain and that's something that a mother needs to know."
Advocacy and Prevention
Danielle emphasized that society must do more to deter risky behaviors, provide community support, and promote wellness to protect young people from the "glamorisation" of drinking and other harmful activities.
She noted that if Roberts had not felt compelled to try drugs initially, the incident might never have occurred.
Danielle expressed her desire to speak out to encourage people to "think twice" before driving under the influence.
She said no one wants to be the person burdened with the "life sentence" of regret and the knowledge that they have destroyed someone’s life and their family’s.
Danielle recounted a conversation with Roberts, who told her,
"I wish I wasn't that person that did that".
She explained,
"He feels my pain, he's an empath in that way and feels my pain and he said it's really hard for him to navigate through that because of how sorry he is and how much he feels my pain through talking to me,"
Future Plans
Roberts has since been released from prison. Danielle hopes that when he is ready, they can jointly speak in schools to share his story so others understand the consequences and make safer choices.
"He [Roberts] always says 'I wouldn't wish this feeling upon anyone, anyone in the world',"she added.
