Father spared jail for causing death of his own son by dangerous driving

A father who caused his own son’s death in a car crash has been spared jail after the boy’s mother made an emotional appeal to the court.

Paul Vines was driving his 12-year-old son, Edward, to a football match when he crashed into another car in Bardney, Lincolnshire, on January 16 last year.

Edward, known as Ted, suffered a fatal head injury in the crash, while Victoria Frost, a passenger in the second car, sustained serious injuries including four fractured vertebrae and a fractured ankle.

Vines, 47, was charged with causing death by dangerous driving after investigators found he had ignored signs warning of an uneven road surface and was travelling above the 60mph speed limit when his Ford Galaxy lost control and hit a Mercedes Benz.

He pleaded guilty to the charge at Lincoln Crown Court, as well as to causing serious injury by dangerous driving in relation to the injuries suffered by Ms Frost.

Ms Frost was in the car with her husband, William, and her four-year-old daughter on the way back from a swimming trip when they were hit. Mr Frost described seeing all four wheels of the Galaxy leaving the road before striking his Mercedes.

Mr Frost and his daughter escaped without serious injuries, but Ms Frost was taken to hospital in Nottingham and required four operations for serious injuries to her spine and ankle.

Ahead of sentencing, Ted’s mother, Sarah Vines, fought back tears as she read out her victim impact statement. She urged the sentencing judge not to jail her husband because of the emotional and physical support he provided to her and their three surviving children.

"Nobody and no one will ever be able to hurt me more than the death of my darling Teddy other than to watch what my beautiful three children are going through," Ms Vines told the court.

She added: "I know he is truly sorry for what happened. I know he will never be able to forgive himself."

Ms Frost also told the judge that she did not wish for Vines to go to jail.

She said: “I want Mr Vines to know that everyone makes mistakes in life and there is no hate towards him.”

Passing a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, Judge Simon Hirst said: “Had it not been your son in this case who died and had Mrs Frost not been enormously generous in her position, inevitably you would not be walking out of this court today.”