Man sentenced for killing baby boy and aunt by dangerous driving
The incident happened on the A1 in County Durham, in May.
Last updated 9th Jul 2024
A man from Rotherham, who admitted causing death by dangerous driving in a crash on the A1 which killed a baby boy and his aunt, has been sentenced today (Tuesday 9th July)
Darryl Anderson
Image showing post-impact position of Anderson's Audi Q5
Image showing Anderson crossing Tyne Bridge (second car from right)
Darryl Anderson, 38, was driving an Audi Q5 when he crashed into a Peugeot 308, killing eight-month-old Zackary Blades and 30-year-old Karlene Warner, from Ferryhill in County Durham.
Anderson had been drinking, speeding at 141 miles per hour and in the seconds before the crash used his phone to take a photo of his speedometer.
He's been jailed for 17 years and 3 months.
It happened between Chester-le-Street and Durham at around 3.15am on Friday May 31.
Zackary's mother, Sharlona Warner, who was driving the Peugeot, suffered minor injuries.
Anderson, of Clarell Walk, Thorpe Hesley, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving at a hearing at Durham Crown Court last week.
After the crash, Shalorna Warner and Zackary's father, Jack Blades, who live in Northern Ireland, paid tribute to their son.
"I'm so sorry you never got to grow up," they said.
"Our little Zack - mammy and daddy love you so much, you didn't deserve any of this.
"You were such a happy, cheeky boy.
"I am so sorry this has happened - our hearts are truly broken.
"We will never forget you, you will always be in our hearts."
The family also paid tribute to Ms Warner, saying: "How do we put into words to describe the amazing mother, partner, daughter, sister, granddaughter, auntie, niece, and friend Karlene was?
"You light up every room you walked into like the bright shining diamond that you were.
"You had so much to look forward to in life and that has been taken."
Outside court, Detective Constable Natalie Horner, of Durham Constabulary's Collision Investigation Unit, said:
"As roads policing officers, we routinely ask people not to drive above the speed limit.
"We routinely ask people not to use their mobile phones while driving. And we routinely ask people not to get behind the wheel while intoxicated.
"Darryl Anderson was doing all three of those things when he collided with Shalorna Warner's car, killing both passengers, Karlene and baby Zackary.
"For his actions, Anderson has been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison, but it is his victims and their family who have been handed life sentences.
"It is them who will spend the rest of their lives grieving the loss of their son, their grandchild, their wife, their sister and their mother. And for what?"