Drunk driver who killed his young son, “who never grew up”, and his aunt in a horror accident at 226 km/h on the A1 has been jailed

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A drunk driver has been sentenced to prison after killing an eight-month-old baby and her aunt in a night-time car crash at 227 km/h on the A1.

38-year-old Darryl Anderson had almost three times the blood alcohol limit when he crashed his Audi Q5 into a Peugeot 308 at 3:15 a.m. on May 31.

He took a photo of his speedometer at 141 mph just before he crashed into the other car, killing eight-month-old Zackary Blades and his aunt, 30-year-old Karlene Warner.

The pair were in the Peugeot driven by Zackary’s mother, Sharlona Warner, who suffered minor injuries in the crash between Chester-le-Street and Durham, which claimed the lives of her “cheerful, cheeky” son and sister.

Around 50 devastated family members of the two victims attended the verdict hearing in Durham District Court on Tuesday.

Anderson, of Clarell Walk, Thorpe Hesley, Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, was sentenced to 17 years and three months in prison and banned from driving for a further 21.5 years after his release.

In tears, Mrs Warner described the desperate search for her son, who was thrown from the child seat of her Peugeot 308 onto the oncoming lane of the motorway.

Her sister Karlene was thrown from the back seat into the front airbags and died instantly along with her nephew, Durham Crown Court heard.

Anderson was driving erratically on his return flight from Newcastle Airport after drinking excessively on the plane following an argument with his wife.

By chance, Sharlona Warner wanted to pick up her sister, a flight attendant, from the same airport.

Judge Kidd told Anderson he was playing “Russian roulette” with the lives of other motorists that night and a fatal accident was inevitable.

The sentencing was postponed from the first hearing to give grieving relatives time to prepare victim statements, as they could now be told more about the circumstances of their loved ones’ deaths.

Anderson was breathalysed at the scene and police found that he had a blood alcohol level of 95 mg per 100 ml of breath, although the legal limit is 35 mg. Police found an empty vodka bottle in the wreckage of his car.

He had been using WhatsApp while driving and, shortly before the accident, took a photo with his phone showing Ms Warner’s Peugeot with its speedometer showing a speed of 227 km/h.

An analysis of the Audi’s computer showed that he had fully depressed the accelerator, had not braked before impact, and that a collision warning light had illuminated on the dashboard.

After the accident, Mrs. Warner and Zackary’s father, Jack Blades, paid their last respects to their son.

“I’m so sorry you never got to grow up,” they said. “Our little Zack – Mommy and Daddy love you so much, you didn’t deserve this. You were such a happy, cheeky boy. I’m so sorry this happened – our hearts are truly broken.”

“We will never forget you, you will always remain in our hearts.”

The family also paid tribute to Ms Warner, saying: “How can we put into words what a wonderful mother, partner, daughter, sister, granddaughter, aunt, niece and friend Karlene was?

“You light up every room you walk into like the bright shining diamond that you were. You had so much to look forward to in life and it was taken away from you.”