In dying Steven Moore gave one man a new chance at life.

His lungs were donated to a 24-year-old cystic fibrosis sufferer whose family had been told by doctors to prepare for his death.

But at the last minute Mr Moore’s tissue was found to be a match for the young man and he is now able to breathe unrestricted for the first time in years.

Three other people also benefited from Mr Moore’s organs and his mother Jackie Moore said his heart valves have also been used for premature babies.

Mrs Moore, who lives in Berkshire, said she had received a heartbreaking letter of thanks from the man – also called Steven – and his mother.

She said she had struggled to write back, but the thought of her son helping another was a positive end to a tragic death.

She said: “Nothing can take away the nightmare of what happened, but this does somehow lift it.

“I’m very touched and want to thank them, but I haven’t been able to write yet. Everytime I do I find it too hard to know what to say.

“It sounded like he had a horrendous life and spent the past couple of years needing an oxygen machine.

“This is what Steven would have wanted.

“I want to tell them he will have the healthiest set of lungs as Steven never smoked.

“It is quite a good ending to a horrendous nightmare. I just hope this will encourage others to donate their organs.”

The drunk driver who crashed into a car and killed its passenger while being chased by police has been jailed for causing death by dangerous driving.

Steven Moore was killed when a black Vauxhall Vectra being pursued by a police van ploughed into his Renault Clio as it waited at a Carshalton junction.

At Croydon Crown Court on Monday, Mr Moore’s father Gary shouted furiously when Judge Stephen Waller sentenced death crash driver Kirby Harty, 29, from Gaskell Street in Clapham, to eight years.

As Judge Waller left the court room, Mr Moore, 51, shouted at him: “How can you do eight years for that? It’s not enough. You’re a disgrace.”

Shouting as Harty was led away Mr Moore, who was known to be a best friend to his son, shouted: “You scumbag!”

More than 30 relatives and friends of Mr Moore packed into the tense courtroom to see Harty sentenced.

During the hearing, prosecutor Hamish Reid could be heard just above the sound of crying as Mr Moore’s mother Jackie, his girlfriend Carly Lewin and countless others struggled to contain their grief.

Mr Moore, 25, an avid Tottenham Hotspur fan and former buyer for BP, was returning home with best friend Glenn Purvey from watching his team play on January 17.

The former Greenshaw High School student was sitting in the back seat of the car and suffered a broken neck and head injuries in the crash in Wrythe Lane, Carshalton, and died the next day.

Harty had been drinking spirits at Chicago’s in Sutton on the evening before the crash and had gone to his former girlfriend’s at midnight, the court heard.

But when the mother of his two children refused to allow him to stay, he took her car without permission and was later spotted by a policeman jumping a red light at the top of Throwley Way near Sutton police station at 12.40am.

The police officer then saw him narrowly miss colliding with another car and began pursuing Harty.

Harty later told police he “panicked” when he saw the police van and eye-witnesses said he was “driving like a maniac”.

At one point the officer lost sight of Harty, who was on a provisional licence and had no insurance.

When he caught up he saw the immediate aftermath of the crash and Harty running from his car into a nearby recreation ground.

Harty later surrendered when caught by police and, as he was arrested, asked: “Are they badly hurt?”

A blood test found his alcohol limit was 179mg per 100ml. The legal limit is 80mg.

Mr Purvey, 24, of Sutton, and Mr Purvey’s girlfriend Rhia Vassallo, 22, who was driving at the time, were all taken to a south London hospital and suffered minor injuries.

Miss Vassallo had just picked up Mr Moore and Mr Purvey from Carshalton Beeches station after they had been to watch Tottenham Hotspur play Hull.

Sentencing, Judge Stephen Waller said the maximum sentence he could pass was one of 14 years, but he had taken into account the fact Mr Harty had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and had “expressed remorse”.

Half of Harty’s sentence will be spent in custody.

Defence barrister Gordon MacRae Ross said Harty accepted his responsibility and wanted to express his “deep remorse”.

He said: “The fact he has caused the death of this young man will continue to haunt him.”

Judge Waller said: “No sentence that I pass in a case of this type can make amends or cure the enduring pain that relatives must suffer.

“A young life has been lost suddenly in totally senseless circumstances.”

After the crash the police officer driving the police van was originally removed from driving duties.

A police spokesman said: “Following a locally managed ... investigation it was found this officer did not have a case to answer in relation to their driving.

“The officer has been reinstated to driving duties.”