M4 crash: Drink and drug driver jailed for causing deaths of two children

A man who killed two young children in a car crash on the M4 has been jailed for nine years and four months.

Martin Newman, 41, drank red wine while driving and had cocaine in his system when his Ford Transit van crashed into a family's Ford Fiesta.

The family were returning from a birthday party when their car was hit by Newman on 5 February.

Outside court, the children's family said their lives had been destroyed and their home "feels like an empty shell."

Newman had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

Three-year-old Jayden Lee Lucas and his sister Gracie Ann, aged four, both died in hospital following the crash, which also left their mother Rhiannon Lucas with serious injuries.

Newman, from Croeserw, Neath Port Talbot, was twice over the drink driving limit and had traces of cocaine in his system when he crashed into the family's car.

Following the sentencing, the children's family expressed anger and said they would appeal for harsher punishment that reflected the loss of the two young children.

Judge Daniel Williams said some would find the sentence "inadequate", but he said only Parliament could change the law.

The family were travelling from a birthday party to Techniquest in Cardiff and had pulled over onto the hard shoulder in Newport, after Gracie Ann complained of having a bad stomach and needing the toilet, when they were hit by Newman's van.

Cardiff Crown Court was played CCTV from Traffic Wales cameras showing the van swerving across lanes on the M4, from the Prince of Wales bridge, to the point where he crashed into the red Ford Fiesta, travelling at 57mph.

The children, from Tredegar, Blaenau Gwent, were taken to the intensive care unit of University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

Gracie Ann suffered a cardiac arrest due to the severity of her injuries and died the following day. Jayden died on 11 February.

The court heard Newman had been taking cocaine, drunk vodka and 10 cans of cider until 05:00 GMT on the day of the crash.

Newman told police he had been working in Leicester that week, and had only got two hours sleep the previous night after drinking alcohol and taking cocaine.

The next morning he decided he was too hungover and tired to work and instead chose to drive the three-hour journey back to Bridgend.

He claimed he was not able to remember how he got on to the hard shoulder but said he believed he must have fallen asleep.

At the scene Newman was found crying with blood on his hands and saying he "wished he was dead".

Investigators found Newman was travelling at 70mph before braking just two seconds before the impact on the M4 between Cardiff and Newport.

Other drivers on the motorway that day said they saw Newman driving haphazardly at speed.

Cara Williams and her partner said they purposefully overtook Newman, who they described as driving like an "idiot", adding when they passed him they saw he was holding his phone to his right ear.

She said they mouthed at him to "get off the phone", but he seemed "oblivious".

Newman's phone was examined and the last phone call ended seven minutes before the crash, during which he had been having an argument with his ex-partner.

Prosecutor Roger Griffiths added: "The force of the impact had forced the rear seats into the back of the front seats inside the car."

The judge said: "This was the most serious level of dangerous driving...I am satisfied, the most flagrant disregard of the rules of the road."

In her victim impact statement read out in court, the children's mother, Rhiannon Lucas, could not understand why people drink or drug drive.

"If he wasn't on the road that day me and Adam wouldn't be going through all this," she said.

She said she felt anxious, and that people were "starting rumours" about why Adam pulled over.

Her daily routine used to revolve around the children, but now she "struggles to smile at other parents taking their children to school".

Ms Lucas said she was "suffering with flash backs and nightmares of the accident" and cannot sleep without Jayden's pillow next to her. She said it still smelled of him.

She said he "had a wicked personality" and great group of friends, and Gracie-Ann "enjoyed her own company and was as quiet as a mouse".

She said they would always be together.

"My dad misses his grandchildren massively - he cries most nights before going to bed", she said.

She said Gracie-Ann was his "little angel" and Jayden-Lee was his only grandson.

"If that man was not on the road that day my children would still be here", she said.

The family had "so many dreams and plans".

Ms Lucas, who remains on strong pain relief medication for her injuries, said: "People have said to me I can just have another child. Nothing will ever replace my babies, the driver of that vehicle took my children away.

"They were such happy children."

Adam Saunders, the children's stepfather who was driving the car, said he continued to battle with blaming himself for pulling over to allow Gracie Ann to go to the toilet that day.

He added: "They have left us without a purpose in life. We're trying to function but we know it can never be the same."

Mr Saunders said: "I will miss seeing them laughing and joking in the morning and especially playing football games on the PS4 with Jayden-lee.

"He used to do a little celebration ritual where he waved his finger in the air when a goal was scored and now, whenever I am watching football and a goal is scored it makes me sad and upset as he will never do that again.

"Wherever you go in the house you are reminded of the children, there are pictures on the walls and their toys are still about, just as they left them."

Mr Saunders said: "What was a day of fun and enjoyment, turned into a day of horror and pain."

He added that the small community of Tredegar "have all pulled together" and are "marking their respects by closing the nursery that Jayden-Lee attended and lining the streets for the funeral procession".

"It is going to be a very tough day for everyone affected by their deaths," he said.

In a statement read after sentencing the children's family said: "Martin Newman devastated our family by taking our two beautiful children, Gracie Ann and Jayden Lee.

"Our family home now feels like an empty shell without them and the love and happiness they brought us cannot ever be replaced. Our lives have been destroyed.

It said the family had paid the "ultimate price" for Newman's "total disregard for anyone's safety".

They hoped the sentence would act as a deterrent to others.

"No prison sentence that a court can impose will ever be enough and will never bring back Gracie Ann and Jayden Lee back," the statement said.

The family thanked the medical services for giving the children "the best possible chance of survival with the upmost compassion", along with the investigation team at Gwent Police.

They also thanked the people of Tredegar and Wales for their support.

"A day hasn't gone by when we haven't been offered much love and help which has truly meant the world to us," the family said.

Ms Lucas's uncle, Darren Lucas, said the family was devastated.

"He should have got a lot longer than that," he said.

"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."

Newman, who also admitted seriously injuring the children's mother and drink and drug driving, will be expected to serve at least half his prison sentence in custody.

He was also disqualified from driving for 14 years and eight months.

A Gwent Police spokesperson said: "This is a tragic case that has resulted in the needless loss of two young lives.

"Newman's reckless actions highlight the real dangers of irresponsible driving, which can have such a devastating impact on other innocent road users."

An inquest into the deaths has been opened and adjourned.