M40 crash: Wrong-way smash car 'crashed days before'

Stuart Richards died when his Ford Mondeo was struck on the M40

A car which crashed killing three people after driving the wrong way on a motorway had been involved in a collision five days earlier, police have said.

The Subaru was towing a caravan when it hit a Ford Mondeo and a Ford Focus on the M40 in Oxfordshire on Monday.

The Mondeo driver Stuart Richards, 32, and the Subaru driver and passenger, both in their 80s, died in the crash.

Thames Valley Police said it had referred itself to the police watchdog.

The force said on 10 October a report of a damage-only road traffic collision involving the Subaru Forester in High Wycombe was made to them.

It said it had made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct in relation to the fatal collision "due to previous police contact".

The M40 northbound was closed overnight after the crash

Police said Mr Richards was from Stockport in Greater Manchester. The two occupants of the Subaru have not been formally identified.

The northbound carriageway was closed overnight after the crash, which happened between junction 6 for Watlington and junction 8A for Oxford.

Mr Richards was in the Army for nine years, serving as an engineer and safety officer in Iraq, Afghanistan and Jordan.

After leaving he worked as a health and safety adviser for Persimmon Homes.

Its regional managing director Mark Cook said: "Stuart only worked with us for a short time, but everyone in the team is shocked and saddened by this tragic news. Our thoughts are with his family."