Drink driver who killed two people after going through red light at 83mph jailed

A drink driver who killed two people after going through a red light at 83mph has been jailed for nine years.

Ryan Howard, 27, was more than twice the drink-drive limit when his BMW collided with a taxi in Liverpool just after 5am on 27 February last year.

Taxi driver David Sherwin, 51, had been taking mother-of-two Michelle Jennings, 35, to work at Greggs.

Mr Sherwin’s daughter, Kirsty, told Liverpool Crown Court that because of Howard’s “recklessness my dad will never be there to walk me down the aisle”.

Mrs Jennings’s husband, Ged, said he had lost his best friend and the lives of his children “will never be the same”.

Cases of dangerous driving “do not get much worse than this”, said Judge Andrew Menary QC.

Howard, from St Helens, had driven to Liverpool with friend Lewis Heyes the previous evening and been drinking in pubs and clubs until about 4.30am, the court heard.

Keith Sutton, prosecuting, said Howard “insisted” on driving them home when they got back to the car.

On their way out of the city, Mr Heyes said the defendant had driven at up to 75mph as they passed Everton Football Club’s stadium, Goodison Park.

As Howard approached traffic lights on the junction of East Lancashire Road and Bridgehouse Lane in Croxteth there were stationary vehicles in two lanes.

The lights had been red for 16 seconds when Howard drove through them, travelling at 83mph before crashing into Mr Sherwin’s Ford Mondeo as it pulled out of Bridgehouse Lane.

Mr Sherwin was unlikely to have been able to see Howard’s car until the last moment.

Judge Menary told Howard he appeared to have been “gambling”.

He said: “Rather than slow down and stop yourself, you pulled over into the offside lane and accelerated through those red lights. You made no effort to stop at all.”

The judge added: “You couldn’t have failed to see them. Maybe you were gambling on them turning to green before you got to the junction.

“If so, two people paid the price when you lost that bet.”

Howard originally claimed he had passed through an amber light and Mr Sherwin had crashed into him, Mr Sutton said.

He also said he could not remember the crash or whether he was driving.

But his DNA was found on the driver’s airbag and he pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving in February.

Mrs Jennings died in hospital later the same morning while Mr Sherwin, who suffered a traumatic brain injury, died on 13 March.

Michael Hegarty, defending, said Howard expressed “profound remorse and regret” for his actions.

He was also disqualified from driving for nine years and ordered to take an extended test before being allowed to drive again.

(c) Sky News 2020: Drink driver who killed two people after going through red light at 83mph jailed