The heartbroken father of a young brother and sister who were killed in a crash on the M4 has slammed a nine-year sentence handed to the drunk van driver.
Joseph Wheaton also revealed how he had to tell their mother that their daughter was dying and their son was seriously injured. Joseph spent five days praying his son would survive and said the tragedy has "ruined" him and the family, reports WalesOnline
The desperate dad, who blew raspberries on his son's stomach in a vain attempt to bring him around, has branded the nine-year prison sentence given to van driver Martin Newman as "ridiculous". He and other relatives fear he will be out in four years while they are left to grieve at the children's graveside for a lifetime.
READ MORE: Boy with ‘kind soul’ dies following M4 crash in which four-year-old also died
They say they should not have to ask for a longer sentence for the 41-year-old who was high on drink and drugs when he smashed into the stationary vehicle on the M4 westbound carriageway between junctions 28 and 29 in Newport. The horrific collision killed four-year-old Gracie-Ann Lucas, her three-year-old brother Jayden-Lee Lucas was then rushed to hospital, but sadly died days later.
The family now want the law changed so drivers can be sentenced for each death they cause, even if it is in the same incident. Gracie-Ann and Jayden-Lee, also known as Wheaton, were travelling home from a birthday party with their mother Rhiannon Lucas and a friend when their car was hit by the van on the M4.
Mr Wheaton, 24, told WalesOnline: "This has been the worst year of my life. From having the phone to say my kids have been in a car accident, to going into the hospital room, I looked at both of my children and it just didn’t seem right, it broke my heart.
"They [the doctors] told me about Gracie Ann when I was in the hospital and I said I had to tell Rhiannon, it was my job to tell her. Rhiannon's injuries were really bad, she was trying to cwtch Gracie Ann and couldn’t do it, it was that bad. We had a little bit of hope that Jayden would pull through and were hoping and hoping but we did have to prepare ourselves too. "
The family were told that even if he did survive his terrible injuries, Jayden-Lee would not be able to walk or talk. "That week I prayed and prayed and prayed," said Mr Wheaton.
"We had some hope that he was moving, they [the doctors] said he had a gag reflex, I was thinking ‘go on boy. I blew raspberries on his belly thinking he would come around a bit and instead he farted, and I thought ‘he must be in there' because he was always a funny boy and that lifted the tension a bit.
"Before Jayden passed away we all had to have a sit-down and talk about it and switching it off and I just kept saying “no I’m not ready to let him go yet. I can’t do it. He can’t go yet, I’m not ready'. He breathed for about 10 minutes after it was taken away and that was it then. And it just snapped us all to pieces then. It has ruined us."
Newman was found by police to be more than twice the drink-driving limit after going out with colleagues the night before the crash. He had drunk 10 cans of Strongbow and taken cocaine once he returned to his hotel room. In the police interview he said he was shattered during his drive back to Wales the next day, and had "nodded off" a few times.
Newman – who admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, and one of causing serious injury to the children's mother Rhiannon Lucas by dangerous driving, and charges of drink-driving and drug-driving – was jailed for nine years and four months. He will serve just over four years in custody before serving the rest of the sentence on licence.
But the family of the siblings want their law changed. Mr Wheaton said: "In a few year's time he will be able to see his kids, we won’t ever be able to see ours. We have to go up to the graveyard to see ours. We can’t visit them, we visit the graveyard. We can’t buy them sweets as you do, we buy them flowers."
He added: "It’s ridiculous how they can only give him what, nine and a half years, and it will get split in half. That man in court said ‘I just want to go and see my children’ and I thought, ‘how disrespectful, I can’t see my children', on Birthdays and Christmas I have to go up to a graveyard to see my babies."
Newman was also disqualified from driving for 10 years with an extension of four years and eight months while he is in custody. He will be required to pass an extended driving test before being able to regain a licence.
But the family are calling for Newman to be granted a life sentence for the crash. Mr Wheaton said, "if you go behind a wheel and do that, you can go behind bars. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy."
"It’s killed me, it’s absolutely snapped me in half, knowing I will never see them again. The amount of times I’ve nearly said ‘how are the kids’ and it hits you,". It’s really difficult, seeing their photos, I can’t even watch videos of them because it hits me straight away. It’s so hard. Sometimes I just sit and look at their photos and think what's happened."
Paying tribute to them he said: "They were the funniest children ever, so full of life. They were the most loving children. They were right characters. I couldn’t help but laugh at them. I miss them terribly, I can’t think of the words, it’s be there forever explaining how much I miss them."
The children's grandfather and Rhiannon Lucas' father, Jason Lucas, 52, has said that he believes Newman "deserves two life sentences" for taking the lives of his grandchildren. He said, "It's not right, for somebody to be drinking driving and taking drugs to be given a sentence like that. He deserves two life sentences."
"We want the law to change, not just for us but for other families too so they don’t have to go through this. He should be banned for life and should be in prison for life.
"My feeling is it shouldn’t need to be reviewed, we shouldn’t have to fight, he should have been given a longer sentence full stop. We shouldn’t have to fight this, we have been through enough. Someone could burgle a house and get similar, he has killed two children.
"If he killed one child he would have 15 years anyway, he has killed two. It’s a life for a life. If it was murder he would have life. If it had been an accident, whatever, but he killed them because he had been drinking and taking drugs. He should never be allowed out as far as I am concerned."
During sentencing, Judge Williams said his sentencing powers were restricted by guidelines set by Parliament. He said: “This is the most serious level of dangerous driving. It involved a flagrant disregard for the rules of the road and utter disregard to danger being caused to others by your driving.
“The aggravating features are you have previous convictions for motoring offences including drink-driving and using a mobile phone whilst driving and secondly the gravest aggravating feature is you caused two children’s deaths and the serious injury of their mother who is left bereft.
“There’s no real mitigation in this case. Any remorse you feel rather than self-pity does not affect the sentence this court must pass. You have a limited understanding of wider consequences to others affected by the collision. As this was a single incident the court is bound to impose concurrent sentences but to reflect the extent I can the totality of your offending in the sentence passed.
“The maximum sentence is 14 years imprisonment. Many think such a sentence is inadequate to reflect what you have done and there will be many who will call for that maximum sentence to be re-examined. That is not a matter for any court but Parliament. You pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and a reduction cannot be withheld because of an inadequate maximum sentence.”
The Attorney General's Office has confirmed that an appeal to Newman's sentence has been received under the 'Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme'. Under this scheme, members of the public can ask the Attorney General’s office to examine sentences handed down by crown courts in England and Wales within 28 days of sentencing and decide whether to refer the case to the Court of Appeal to consider.
An AGO spokesperson said: “We have received a request for this sentence to be considered under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme. The Law Officers have 28 days from sentencing to consider the case and make a decision.”
