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Erland Flaws jailed after double death crash in Orkney | Erland Flaws jailed after double death crash in Orkney |
(35 minutes later) | |
A man convicted of causing the death of two women by driving dangerously on an Orkney road has been jailed. | A man convicted of causing the death of two women by driving dangerously on an Orkney road has been jailed. |
Erland Flaws, 26, crashed into a vehicle being driven by Moira Towers on the A965 road in February 2012. | Erland Flaws, 26, crashed into a vehicle being driven by Moira Towers on the A965 road in February 2012. |
Mrs Towers, 65, and passenger Anne Stanger, 64, both from Stromness, died in the crash. | Mrs Towers, 65, and passenger Anne Stanger, 64, both from Stromness, died in the crash. |
Flaws was jailed for five years at the High Court in Livingston, where a judge said he had brought it all on himself. | Flaws was jailed for five years at the High Court in Livingston, where a judge said he had brought it all on himself. |
The two women had been returning from an evening playing bingo when their car was hit by Flaws, who had been speeding. | The two women had been returning from an evening playing bingo when their car was hit by Flaws, who had been speeding. |
Flaws - who has a previous conviction for drink-driving - had strayed onto the other side of the road and struck the car, which was coming in the opposite direction. | Flaws - who has a previous conviction for drink-driving - had strayed onto the other side of the road and struck the car, which was coming in the opposite direction. |
Flaws, of Wyre, Orkney, admitted colliding with the car but claimed he was not driving dangerously. | Flaws, of Wyre, Orkney, admitted colliding with the car but claimed he was not driving dangerously. |
He had told the court: "I feel responsible for the deaths but I don't feel responsible for the accident. | He had told the court: "I feel responsible for the deaths but I don't feel responsible for the accident. |
"I regretted it every day of my life and there have been days that I have cried myself to sleep." | "I regretted it every day of my life and there have been days that I have cried myself to sleep." |
Judge John Beckett said: "Whilst you continue to deny your guilt, I accept that you have expressed and felt remorse for the consequences of the accident in which you were involved. | |
"However, I also recall that when you gave evidence, the greater part of your concern seemed to relate to the consequences that you have suffered. | |
"You brought all of this on yourself when you chose to drive at excessive speed at night towards a blind summit and a junction which presented hazards obvious to anyone who knew the road, as you did. | |
"These were wholly innocent people doing ordinary things and yet, with no warning, their lives were ended and their families are left with the enduring pain of their irreplaceable loss." | |
'Died on anniversary' | |
The judge added: "Mrs Towers leaves behind a husband who has suffered from anxiety, insomnia and depression as a result. | |
"Mrs Stanger was married for 46 years and she died on her anniversary. Her husband has been devastated by the loss of his wife and has suffered medical consequences. | |
"The sentence I will pass is not in any sense a measure of the value of the lives that have been lost. | |
"There is no sentence that I can pass which can have any impact on the loss and grief felt by two families and the community in which Mrs Towers and Mrs Stanger lived." |
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