A man has been jailed for 10 years after causing the death of two sisters in a 100mph head-on crash on a Somerset bypass the day before the older sibling was due to graduate as a teacher.
Thomas Lenthall, 40, who was driving a powerful Audi RS 6, was told he would serve at least two-thirds of his sentence in jail for the deaths of Maddie and Libby North, aged 21 and 17 respectively.
The sisters had popped out to buy soft drinks on 25 July when Lenthall crashed into Maddie’s VW Polo on the A361 Frome bypass.
In a victim personal statement signed by Verity North, she and her husband, Jason, paid tribute to their daughters and explained how the family had been excited and proud at Maddie’s graduation and were preparing for a celebration.
“She was graduating as a teacher, achieving her childhood dream,” the statement said. “Family were invited, the party was arranged, everything felt perfect. Maddie and Libby popped out for a Coke, and they never came home.
“It is every parent’s worst nightmare, their lives were taken. Our innocent, precious daughters, at such young ages, were just beginning to live their best lives and fulfil their dreams. In a heartbeat, everything changed. They had been killed by the reckless dangerous driving of another.”
They told of the horror of seeing on a locator app their daughters’ stationary position at the scene of the accident. A police officer stopped them when they headed to the spot.
“He tried to divert me, not realising we were family, but I said I needed his help. I told him my daughters were showing that they were along the stretch of road. He asked my name, and once he heard it, his face changed.”
He said their daughters were involved in a fatal accident. “I remember thinking: ‘What did I just hear?’ How do you comprehend those words? Our world fell apart in that instant as the police drove me home to break this tragic news that has literally broken our hearts. Everything we lived for, our beautiful daughters, was gone.
“The most vibrant, fun-loving, beautiful girls … taken. The emotional impact this has had on the family is beyond words. We still have no words, we remain in disbelief.”
They added: “Getting out of bed is painful, having to live this nightmare over and over again every day … our futures have been destroyed. [Thomas Lenthall] has robbed us of seeing Maddie as a teacher and Libby as a nursery teacher.
“[Lenthall] has stolen the chances we would see them marry and see them as mothers – making us proud grandparents which they both wanted very much. Gone.”
Lenthall had been overtaking another car when he crashed head-on with Maddie’s VW. Bristol crown court heard that Lenthall was already under investigation after being involved in an accident on the M4 when he fell asleep and was found to be under the influence of cannabis.
Lenthall, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to causing the sisters’ deaths by dangerous driving.
