Welshpool man admits causing tragic motorway deaths

By a Court Reporter

A Welshpool man has admitted causing the tragic deaths of two popular women from the town following a collision between his car and a van on the M42 motorway as he was driving them to Birmingham Airport.

James Graham Davies pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to charges of causing the deaths of Barbara Jones and Christine Evans (pictured) by dangerous driving.

The charges follow a collision between his Vauxhall Meriva car and a Mercedes van on the M42 between junctions 9 and 10 in the early hours of January 5.

It is believed Davies (71) of Sguar Heulwen, was on his way to Birmingham Airport at the time with the two women in the back of his car and another passenger, Ms Jones’s partner, Gareth Isaac, in the front.

Following the collision at around 3.20am, Ms Jones, the popular long-serving landlady of the Wellington, and her friend Ms Evans were both pronounced dead at the scene. Prosecutor Darron Whitehead said that Davies wanted to be sentenced straight away, and a pre-sentence report had already been prepared.

But he pointed out that Barbara Jones’s family, not expecting the case to reach a conclusion, were not at court, but wished to attend for the hearing.

And Mr Whitehead added that there was no impact statement from the families of either woman.

Judge Sylvia de Bertodano adjourned the case for those statements to be obtained, and to give Ms Evans’s family the opportunity to attend for the next hearing.

Davies was granted bail until then, and was made subject to an interim driving disqualification.