The family of two young siblings killed in a motorway crash caused by a drink-driver who had been sipping red wine at the wheel and had cocaine in his system have said they are devastated and angry after he was jailed for just nine years.
Judge Williams acknowledged many people would feel the term he passed on Martin Newman was inadequate, but said sentencing laws set by parliament meant he could not jail him for longer.
Newman, 41, admitted causing the death by dangerous driving of Jayden-Lee Lucas, three, and his sister, Gracie-Ann, four. He also pleaded guilty to seriously injuring their mother, Rhiannon Lucas.
The court was told the painter-decorator was twice over the drink-driving limit and had traces of cocaine in his system after partying the night before with colleagues in the east Midlands.
Newman, himself a father of two, had been travelling from Leicester to his home in the village of Croeserw, in Neath Port Talbot, on the M4 in his white Ford Transit van when he veered on to the hard shoulder at about 1.45pm on Saturday 5 February and hit the family’s stationary red Ford Fiesta.
They had pulled over to allow Gracie-Ann to go to the toilet after she had complained of a bad stomach.
Newman crashed into the rear of the car, where the children were, at 57mph, causing them “catastrophic brain injuries”. He had been seen driving erratically before the collision, talking on his phone and sipping red wine while driving, telling police it was for his “dry throat”. He had drunk double vodkas, 10 cans of cider and taken cocaine until 5am on the day of the crash.
The judge told Newman he was guilty of the “most serious level of dangerous driving” but said: “Parliament set the maximum sentence at 14 years’ imprisonment. Many will think such a maximum sentence inadequate to reflect what you’ve done. Many might call for the maximum sentence to be re-examined. That’s not a matter for the court, but for parliament.”
The judge said he was bound by the law to reduce Newman’s sentence by a third because he had entered a guilty plea at the first available opportunity.
Newman was sentenced to nine years and four months in prison. He will be expected to serve only half the term in custody. He was also banned from driving for 14 years and eight months.
Lucas’s uncle, Darren Lucas, said: “We’re just absolutely devastated. He should have got a lot longer than that. The sentence wasn’t harsh enough for taking the lives of two children while drunk and on drugs and everything else. The law needs to change. The family will be appealing to get a heavier sentence. We’re going to start campaigning to get the law changed and do the best by the memory of these children so that something like this doesn’t happen again.”
A statement from the family, who are from Tredegar, Blaenau Gwent, read: “Our family home now feels like an empty shell without them and the love and happiness they brought us can not ever be replaced. Our lives have been destroyed.”
