KATIE Whyte's family issued a heartfelt tribute to "a wonderful, special person" following Wheeler's sentencing.

It said: "We as a family are truly devastated due to the extreme circumstances in which our beautiful Katie was killed.

"No outcome of any court case or conviction of any individual will ever change this.

"We are very grateful for the support we have received from all our friends and family and all the people involved from the emergency services. Also those which helped at the crash scene, the teams in ICU and the investigative team.

"We now hope to continue trying to rebuild our lives in a positive way and come to terms with this very tragic, premature and totally unnecessary loss of such a wonderful, special person.

"Katie was a proud, supportive, caring and loving mother, wife, daughter, sister and friend to everyone that knew her.

"She will be forever missed, but never forgotten. Always in our hearts and minds."