Pensioner jailed after parking on fast lane of motorway to ask for directions, leaving two women dead

A pensioner has been jailed after his partner and her friend were killed when he parked his car on the fast lane of a motorway to ask for directions.

James Davies, 71, was giving his partner Christine Evans, 53, and her friend Barbara Jones, 63, a lift to Birmingham Airport when he got lost on the M42.

After coming across a diversion on the northbound carriageway at 3am on January 5, Davies parked his Vauxhall Meriva in the fast lane to ask for directions.

Warwick Crown Court heard that the 71-year-old put on his hazard lights and climbed over the central reservation onto the opposite carriageway, which was closed for maintenance, to ask a Highways Agency worker for directions.

Three drivers managed to swerve past Davies’ car but a white Mercedes Sprinter ploughed into it, killing Ms Evans and Ms Jones, who were in the back seat, instantly.

Ms Jones’ partner Gareth Isaac, who was also in the car, escaped with minor injuries.

Davies, of Welshpool, Powys, was jailed for two years four months at Warwick Crown Court on Tuesday after admitting two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and

MORE: Moroccan woman accused of killing and COOKING her lover after he told her he was marrying someone else
MORE: Teenager loses driving licence 49 minutes after getting it following major speeding fail

The court heard that Highways Agency worker Jake Ashmore watched in horror as Davies clambered over the central barrier and knocked on his window.

Prosecutor Simon Davis said: “Highways Agency employee Jake Ashmore was parked in his vehicle on the southbound carriageway, which was closed that night for maintenance work, with its orange warning lights flashing, when there was a tap on his window.”

He said Mr Ashmore was immediately concerned and ushered Mr Davies to the other side of the road, back towards his car but within two to three seconds he saw the white van hit the back of the Meriva.

Mr Davis said: “Three drivers managed to go past it on the inside, but the Mercedes Sprinter van, despite attempts by its driver to take evasive action, hit the car which was projected forward and went into the air and rotated twice before coming to rest.”

The court heard that while Davies was slapped with an interim driving ban he was caught behind the wheel teaching someone to drive.

Judge Anthony Potter said: “The sad fact is that nothing I can do can reflect the loss of Mr Isaac’s partner Barbara Jones, or the loss to her family, and of your partner Christine Evans.

“This was rightly described as a terrible tragedy, and it will affect all of those people, including you, for many years.”

He said: “You set off from you home to drive your friend of many years, Mrs Jones, and her long-term partner to Birmingham airport; and Mrs Jones had persuaded her friend Mrs Evans to accompany you on the drive there and, more importantly, the drive back.

“Although you had driven to Birmingham airport in the past, you were not particularly familiar with the M42, and when you encountered a diversion you became disorientated and you were heading north.

“The southbound carriageway had been closed for some work to be done, and for reasons that are hard to fathom, having become lost, you decided to stop, not on the hard shoulder, but on the outside carriageway of the motorway.

“You parked there and got out of your car and set off in the direction of Mr Ashman in order, apparently, to seek some directions.

“The hazard warning lights were wholly inadequate warning to the danger your car presented.

“Leaving a stationary vehicle in the fast lane of a motorway is dangerous enough, but to leave it with three people inside it, whose lives were in your hands, is even worse.”

The judge said a significant aggravating feature was that Mr Davies’ driving caused the death of not one, but two people.

He added: “The mitigation is the close personal relationship you had, not only with your partner, but also with Mrs Jones.

“I have read the letter from Christine Evans’s family, written by Susan Evans, and it is to their credit that they bear you no animosity.”

Jemma Gordon, defending, said: “Mr Davies finds himself before the court for the first time in his life in the most tragic of circumstances.

“A momentary decision affects those around us, and sometimes those effects are catastrophic.”