M1 crash: Drink-drive mum jailed over deaths of children

Mary McCann admitted causing the deaths of two of her children while drink-driving

A mother who killed two of her children when she crashed into a lorry while drink-driving has been jailed for more than four years.

Mary McCann, 35, crashed into the HGV on the M1 northbound near Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, on 9 August.

Daughter Lilly, four, and son Smaller, 10, were not wearing seatbelts and died at the scene, Aylesbury Crown Court heard.

The mother-of-four was sentenced to four years and one month in prison.

She was also banned from driving for seven years and two weeks.

McCann, of Bamford Avenue, Derby, previously admitted two counts of causing death by careless driving whilst under the influence of drink.

She appeared in court via video-link from HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Surrey, and wept throughout the hearing.

Mary McCann pictured with her son Smaller, who turned 10 years old on the day of the crash

The court heard McCann was in lane one, while the lorry was in lane two.

Her car drifted into lane two and, in a bid to avoid the lorry, she crashed into it.

Stephen Shay, prosecuting, said McCann was driving at 72 mph in a 60 mph zone.

Lilly was thrown from the car and found on the roadside, while Smaller was flung around the backseat and found slumped in the footwell, the court heard.

A witness heard McCann shout "God, why didn't I put their seatbelts on?", Mr Shay said.

Lilly and Smaller were in the car with another child, aged two, who was not seriously injured

Laban Leake, defending, said McCann had complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

"She is here to be punished by this court and rightly so, but it must be acknowledged that the true punishment for this offence lives within Mary McCann," he said.

"It is to that unquenchable wheel of fire that Mary McCann is bound."

Judge Francis Sheridan said Lilly would "not have been ejected" if she had been strapped in, while "Smaller would have remained in his seat".

"There is no punishment commensurate with the loss of one's two children and I accept that," he said.

"The message must go out: don't drive under the influence of alcohol."