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A drink-driver has been jailed for 17 years after killing an eight-month-old baby and his aunt in a crash at 141mph on the A1.
Darryl Anderson, 38, was almost three times over the alcohol limit when his Audi Q5 crashed into a Peugeot 308 at 3.15am on 31 May.
Anderson took a photo of his speedometer at 141mph moments before he ploughed into the other vehicle, killing eight-month-old Zackary Blades and the his aunt, Karlene Warner, 30.
Zackary’s mother Sharlona Warner was driving on the A1 between Chester-le-Street and Durham when the car was struck. She only suffered minor injuries after the collision which killed her son and sister.
Around 50 family members of the two victims were present at Durham County Court for the sentencing on Tuesday.
Anderson, of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, was sentenced to 17 years and three months in jail. He was banned from driving for a further 21-and-a-half years when he is released.
Ms Warner tearfully described frantically searching for her son – who was thrown from out of his car seat and into the opposite carriageway of the motorway.
Her sister Karlene was thrown from the backseat into the front airbags and both she and her nephew were killed instantly, Durham Crown Court heard.
Anderson had been driving erratically from Newcastle airport having drunk excessively on the plane back from a shortened holiday, after falling out with his wife.
By coincidence, Sharlona Warner had been to pick up her sister, a flight attendant, from the same airport.
Judge Joanne Kiddd told Anderson he had been playing “Russian roulette” with the lives of other drivers that night and a fatal crash was inevitable.
The sentencing was delayed from the initial hearing to allow the grieving relatives time to prepare victim impact statements, now that they could be told more about the circumstances of how their loved ones died.
Anderson was breathalysed at the scene and police recorded a 95mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath when the legal limit is 35mg. Police found an empty vodka bottle in the wreckage of his car.
He had been using WhatsApp while he drove and took a photograph on his phone in which Ms Warner’s Peugeot could be seen, showing the speedometer at 141mph, moments before the crash.
Analysis of the Audi’s computer showed he had the accelerator fully depressed, did not brake before impact, and that a collision warning light was illuminated on the dashboard.
After the crash, Ms Warner and Zackary’s father, Jack Blades, paid tribute to their son.
“I’m so sorry you never got to grow up,” they said. “Our little Zack – mammy and daddy love you so much, you didn’t deserve any of this. You were such a happy, cheeky boy. I am so sorry this has happened – our hearts are truly broken.
“We will never forget you, you will always be in our hearts.”
The family also paid tribute to Ms Warner, saying: “How do we put into words to describe the amazing mother, partner, daughter, sister, granddaughter, auntie, niece, and friend Karlene was?
“You light up every room you walked into like the bright shining diamond that you were. You had so much to look forward to in life and that has been taken.”
