A woman has been jailed for killing a couple in a crash after apparently falling asleep at the wheel.
Front seat Volkswagen Golf passenger Christine Goodings, 61, died at the scene and her husband Steve, the driver, died in hospital 24 days later — three days after his 60th birthday — following the three-vehicle smash on the A66 in Cumbria just before noon on Monday, May 23 2022.
It was caused by Ellen Charlotte Leslie, 55, as she drove a Volkswagen T-Cross eastbound towards York with her youngest son, Edinburgh University student Theo, having left the Scottish capital several hours earlier and stopped at a service station for breakfast.
Video footage from a passing vehicle captured the shocking moment Leslie’s vehicle drifted gradually across solid double white lines near Warcop, and into head-on collision with an oncoming lorry. The goods vehicle driver had no control and then collided with the Goodings’ eastbound Golf.
Prosecutor Peter Wilson told Carlisle Crown Court today: “That was forced from the carriageway on to a verge and suffered significant front end damage. In addition it was partially underneath the lorry. Both Mrs Christine Goodings and Steven Goodings tragically lost their lives as a result.”
Video footage from a passing vehicle showed Leslie took no evasive action and, a police crash investigator concluded, there was no driver interaction by her for five seconds before impact.
Leslie admitted causing the couple’s deaths by dangerous driving. She told police afterwards she had no idea why the crash occurred, saying she was devastated at what happened while maintaining she was not tired at the time.
Judge Nicholas Barker concluded it was highly likely that Leslie lost consciousness by falling asleep at the wheel.
Accepting she was responsible for the couple’s deaths, Leslie, now of Hamlet Road, Bromley, told the court: “I certainly am and I’ll live with that for the rest of my life.”
Leslie sat with her head bowed in the dock as deeply moving impact statements were read by relatives of keen cyclist Steve and Chris Goodings, of Sunderland, who were married for almost four decades and, the court heard, did most things together.
“On 23rd May, 2022, my family’s world was turned upside down,” said one of their two sons, Steven junior.
He spoke of the tragedy causing “a ripple of grief, stress, worry, anger, confusion and loss that is still as fresh today as the day that I was given the news”.
“My parents’ life has been stolen from them and with them their dreams of spending the next chapter of their lives doing the things they had worked for together,” he said.
The couple’s other son, Gareth, said his life and family were destroyed on learning of the crash. “Losing them both in these circumstances is incomprehensible and I will never recover from losing them,” he said. “I will never overcome this life sentence of grief.”
Judge Barker said of those statements: “The loss for their family is deep and it is profound. This incident has ruptured and torn their lives for ever.”
Jailing Leslie for 28 months, Judge Barker told her: “The court understands that you are not a bad person, though you have done a bad thing which has had truly devastating effects.”
Leslie must serve a five-year driving ban when released from custody. She must pass an extended test before her licence is ever returned.
