A young man who caused the death of a family’s ‘matriarch’ after he had been racing at speeds in excess of 110mph has been jailed.
Kieran Clement’s Audi smashed into the rear of the car Margaret Murray was travelling in with her husband, David, as they headed to the beach to celebrate her birthday as Covid restrictions were lifted.
The 75-year-old suffered a severe degree of ‘blunt force trauma’ when Clement collided with the rear of Mr Murray’s Nissan.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the pair had been to have their Covid jabs on March 30, 2021, before heading out for the day to celebrate Mrs Murrays birthday two days earlier.
Eye witnesses said the Clement and Keaton Cox had been racing each other for a number of miles in the build up the fatal collision and were branded as ‘driving like idiots’.
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The much-loved grandmother, from Easington in County Durham, died following the collision involving a number of vehicles on the A689 near to Greatham, outside Hartlepool, at around 12.45pm.
A lorry driver’s dashcam footage recorded the pair pass him at 111mph in the minutes leading up to the fatal crash.
In a victim impact statement, Mrs Murray’s son wrote: “We had plans that when Covid restrictions relaxed, we would all get together and celebrate birthdays. Needless to say, we didn’t get a chance to do this. It is heart-breaking.
“The matriarch and backbone of our family has been taken away from us. We were only able to have a maximum of 30 people in the church. Friends and family chose to line the streets. We were unable to hold a wake afterwards.”
The court heard how her husband, David’s life had been ‘ruined’ by her death. His son added: “Whilst Dad was in hospital recovering from his injuries in the crash, he was informed that he had bowel cancer.”
Clement, of Winterburn Place, Newton Aycliffe, has admitted causing the death of Mrs Murray by driving an Audi dangerously on the A689 eastbound.
Ian Mullarkey, mitigating, said: “Nothing that I say on behalf of Mr Clement is designed to take away the Murray family’s loss. It’s accepted by the prosecution that there was no racing in the immediate build-up to this collision.
“The defendant is 21 now but was 19 at the time of the offence. The defendant has no previous convictions and has never served a prison sentence.”
Cox pleaded guilty to driving a Black VW Golf dangerously on the same road.
Kelleigh Lodge, mitigating, said her client pulled over and tried to help at the scene.
She added: “This is something that he will never forget and it does play on him on a daily basis.”
Sentencing Clement, Judge Howard Crowson said: “It was your dangerous driving that caused the death of that fit and healthy grandmother, Margaret Murray. Her family have found it very hard to come to terms with her death.
Your reaction to all of this has been appropriately remorseful. I don’t think you have any idea of the family’s pain. The driver, in this case - you, had no intention of causing this outcome.
“But your dangerous driving was prolonged, at greatly excessive speed and had involved racing prior to this crash.”
Addressing Cox, the judge added: “Your driving did not cause Mrs Murray’s death. You have true remorse and realisation that you bear some responsibility for bad driving that day and a certain moral responsibility for what happened.”
Clement was jailed for two years and six months and banned from driving for three years and three months.
While Cox, of The Barracks, Bolckow Street East, Eston, near Middlesborugh, avoided an immediate custodial sentence of 14-months as the judge opted to suspend it for 18-months. He was banned from driving for two years, ordered to attend 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and perform 200 hours of unpaid work.
- A third defendant Syed Hassan has also admitted dangerous driving but will be sentenced in January.
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