Two women died after ‘lost’ pensioner PARKED in fast lane of M42 motorway
Barbara Jones and Christine Evans were killed in a horror smash when James Davies, 71, stopped to ask for directions
TWO women were killed when a "lost" pensioner parked his car in the fast lane of the M42.
James Davies, 71, stopped his Vauxhall Meriva on the motorway to ask a Highways Agency worker on the opposite carriageway for directions to Birmingham Airport.
But within seconds a van smashed into the back of his parked car, killing two passengers inside - partner Christine Evans and landlady Barbara Jones.
Davies, from Welshpool, Wales was sentenced to two years and four months after pleading guilty to dangerous driving at Warwick Crown Court.
The pensioner was also slapped with a driving ban lasting 11 years and two months.
He'll additionally have to sit an extended driving test to regain his licence once the ban has expired.
The crash took place on January 5 at 3.18am on the northbound side of the M42 between junctions nine and ten in Warwickshire.
Highways Agency worker Jake Ashmore was sitting in his parked vehicle on the southbound carriageway when Davies tapped on his window asking for directions.
Davies and his partner Christine Evans were giving Barbara Jones and her partner Gareth Isaac to the airport.
When Ashmore spotted the dangerously parked car in the fast lane, he ordered Davies to go back to the vehicle, .
But after taking just "two or three" steps towards the car, they saw a white van smash into the rear of the stationary vehicle.
Ms Jones, 63, and Ms Evans, 53, were both sitting in the back of Davies' parked Vauxhall Meriva at the time of the impact.
They both suffered multiple injuries and were declared dead at the scene.
During interviews with cops, Davies said he had gotten lost because of diversions in place.
When he saw workmen on the other carriageway, he stopped in what he thought was a safe place to get directions.
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At sentencing, Judge Anthony Potter told Davies: "This was rightly described as a terrible tragedy, and it will affect all of those people, including you, for many years.
"Leaving a stationary vehicle in the fast lane of a motorway is dangerous enough, but to leave it with three people inside it, whose lives were in your hands, is even worse.
"There is one significant aggravating feature, and that is the fact that your driving caused the death of not one, but two people.
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