Cramlington crash death mum attacks driver's latest sentence

Robert Atkinson was originally detained for the 2011 fatal crash

The mother of a man killed in a speeding car says the sentence the driver has received for driving dangerously again is too lenient.

Caroline Watters' son, Jamie, was a passenger in Robert Atkinson's car when it crashed in Northumberland in 2011.

Atkinson was sent to a young offenders institute for the Cramlington crash and banned from driving for five years but last year was caught speeding again.

In a post on social media Mrs Watters said she was "at a loss for words".

"Robert only did about 20 months in prison, and was banned then too," she said.

"He obviously has not mended his ways, so my son died needlessly for nothing."

Atkinson, 30, from Ashington, narrowly avoided a "catastrophic" high-speed crash after being clocked driving at 121mph on the A189 dual carriageway in March last year, Northumbria Police said.

He was spotted by officers who saw him cross the Moor Farm Roundabout.

'Cannot be trusted'

At Newcastle Crown Court last week he admitted dangerous driving and failing to provide a specimen and was sentenced to 18 months in prison and banned from driving for three years and nine months.

Mrs Watters said he should have been banned from driving for life and jailed for longer.

"I would hate to see some other family go through what we did," she said.

"Robert has his whole life ahead of him, our son never got that chance.

"The system is all wrong."

PC Kevin Paskin said there was "little doubt that Atkinson could have killed somebody" in March 2020 and had "proved he cannot be trusted to be behind the wheel of a car".

"He reached speeds of up to 121mph on a 70mph carriageway, showing a total disregard for other road users," he said.

"It is sheer luck that he managed to slam on the brakes just in time to avoid smashing into the back of another vehicle."