Man ignored warnings about his driving before two women paid the ultimate price
A pensioner who was repeatedly warned about his driving has been jailed after he struck and killed two women.
Lecturer Glyn Jones was previously told he was unfit to drive due to a degenerative eye condition that impaired his sight. But instead of heeding advice, Jones continued to get behind the wheel.
It all came to a head on November 30, 2021, when Jones was driving his Audi A3 along a road in Southport, Merseyside, hitting pedestrians Marie Cunningham and Grace Foulds. The two friends, aged 79 and 85 respectively, had been heading home from a social club when they were struck by Jones.
The crash left both grandmothers with "catastrophic injuries" and both were rushed to hospital but tragically died the same day. Prosecutor Henry Riding told Liverpool Crown Court the women had got off a bus and were crossing the street together when they were hit by Jones's car.
Marie Cunningham (right) and Grace Foulds both died after being hit by Glyn Jones' Audi in Southport (Liverpool Echo)CCTV showed the collision, with the 67-year-old defendant not applying brakes to perform an emergency stop. He then stopped and "remained stationary for approximately 10 seconds" afterwards, but his car was then "driven forwards slightly" and rocked backwards and forwards before stopping again, Liverpool ECHO reports.
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Jones then got out of the driver's seat and remained at the scene. The court heard he told one member of the public asking if he was okay that "she just stepped out in front of me".
The driver from Tarleton, Lancashire, passed drink and drugs tests, later telling police: "I just remember an almighty thud. I looked up, and I don't know which one was on the bonnet." He also told officers he had last had his eyes tested two months prior and "there had been no issues".
The truth however was that his last eye test had been in July 2019 - more than two years earlier and a decade after he was first diagnosed with advanced keratoconus in both eyes. An optometrist had told him then that he was unable to drive without glasses or contact lenses.
It was found he had also failed to notify the DVLA about his condition, which left him "extremely short-sighted". Despite surgery, it was found his vision was still "well below the standard required for driving".
Oliver Jarvis, defending, told the court his client was perhaps "struggling to comprehend the enormity of the consequences of his actions," adding that "what he is clear about is his remorse".
Sentencing him, Judge Neil Flewitt KC told Jones his driving had been a "selfish and grossly irresponsible decision", leaving Ms Cunningham and Ms Foulds' families "cheated of their presence". "You took a chance, and in so doing you gambled with the lives of other road users," the judge said.
"You are a married man with adult children, and you have worked all of your life holding responsible positions. I accept that you do now regret what happened."
Jones was jailed for seven years and four months after admitting two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, and told he must serve at least two thirds of his sentence behind bars. He was also banned from driving for a total of nine years and 10 months.
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