Cumbria A66 crash: Woman admits causing husband and wife's deaths

Ellen Leslie veered into the middle of the road as an HGV was travelling towards her

A woman who caused the death of a husband and wife in a crash has been told a prison sentence is "almost inevitable".

Steven and Christine Goodings died after a collision with another car and a lorry on the A66 near Warcop, in Cumbria, in May last year.

At Carlisle Crown Court, Ellen Leslie pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

The 55-year-old, of Hamlet Road, south London, will be sentenced next year.

The court heard she had been at the wheel of a Volkswagen T-Cross with Mr and Mrs Goodings, of Sunderland, travelling behind her in a Volkswagen Golf as an HGV came towards them.

For several seconds she then "went over the double white lines in the middle of the road and into the path of the lorry which lost control," said defence barrister Ann Crighton.

Mrs Goodings died at the scene. Her husband died in hospital on 16 June.

'Micro-sleep' the 'likely' cause

Ms Crighton said: "There is no doubt that my client was responsible for the accident and she accepts full responsibility."

It was "likely" Ms Leslie had a "micro-sleep" although it would be impossible to say for certain, she added.

"She has no idea and nobody else in the world has either. It could be she just went into a daze. It could be that something distracted her.

"She, of course, suffered life-changing injuries. She doesn't know what happened."

Ms Leslie's level of tiredness is disputed and a court hearing on 11 January will see a ruling by the judge which could affect the severity of her sentence.

The prosecution alleges she was sleep-deprived at the time of the crash. However, Ms Leslie maintained she had more sleep than usual on the night before she drove.

Judge Michael Fanning said a mandatory driving ban would begin immediately, although the court heard Ms Leslie had not driven since the crash and had no intention of doing so again.

Granting her unconditional bail until the next hearing, the judge told her: "You accept that by your dangerous driving you caused the death of Steven and Christine Goodings.

"You are responsible for that as a result of your driving. This is not an accident. This is worse than that.

"You have to understand there is an almost inevitable outcome and this is an immediate prison sentence."