'Our world turned upside down': Family of couple killed in A66 crash

Ellen Leslie, 55, who was returning from a trip to Edinburgh with her son on May 23, 2022, is thought to have nodded off at the wheel as her Volkswagen T-Cross drifted across double while lines on the A66 near to Warcop.

Her car crashed into an oncoming lorry, which then collided with a VW Golf that was immediately behind her car, with tragic consequences.

Devoted couple Steven and Christine Goodings suffered catastrophic injuries. Mrs Goodings, 61, a front seat passenger, died at the scene. Her 60-year-old husband, who was airlifted to hospital, died from his injuries three and a half weeks later.

The couple, from Sunderland, had 'no chance' and no way of escaping the collision, said Judge Nicholas Barker as he passed sentence at Carlisle Crown Court. They had been returning from a short stay in the Lake District.

Leslie had earlier admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

But the sentencing process was delayed by a three-hour hearing during which the defence sought to overturn a suggestion that the defendant, who works as an architectural historian, had knowingly deprived herself of sleep.

Such a finding would have been an aggravating feature.

The court was shown dashcam footage of the moments the collision happened, footage which Judge Barker said captured the accident in 'graphic  and terrifying detail', showing how Leslie seemed unaware of her car's position on the road.

She took no evasive action.

But Judge Barker told the defendant that he accepted her evidence that she had gone to bed the previous evening at 9.30pm and that the time she spent resting meant she had not knowingly deprived herself of rest.

She had set off from Edinburgh at 8am, stopping off at a services for a break a little over an hour into the journey. The fatal collision happened at 11.53am.

The judge concluded: “It is highly likely that Ellen Leslie lost consciousness through falling asleep, albeit for a few seconds. I say that because she does not react to her surroundings at the time her vehicle crosses the white lines.

“She did not respond to the presence of the oncoming HGV.”

The fatal collision happened about 90 minutes after Leslie and her son had stopped for a break at Annandale Services.

Peter Wilson, prosecuting, said the defendant, who had travelled to Edinburgh from her London home to help her son to move house, told police that she was not tired at the time of the accident.

Nor was she speeding or overtaking. She blamed what happened on a "momentary lapse on an unfamiliar road."

She said she had no memory of the crash. In her evidence, Leslie said she had felt "refreshed" after her night's sleep.

She accepted drinking three glasses of wine the previous evening, but the judge again said that he was satisfied that she had allowed herself sufficient time to recover before driving. The judge said there was no reliable evidence to suggest Leslie slept between only 12.30am and 5.15am, as suggested by the prosecution.

She told the court she went to bed at 9.30pm and she did not respond to a text message from her partner until 7.04am.

During the fact finding hearing, Leslie's partner Sloan Mahone, a history professor at Oxford University, said she received a text message that morning in which the defendant said she had slept "really well".

Asked if she got the impression that Leslie was tired, she replied: "No." She said she got the opposite impression.

The court then heard several poignant statements from the family of Mr and Mrs Goodings, including one from their son Steven (junior), who said that the tragedy had "turned his family’s life upside down."

The grief, stress, the worry, anger, confusion, and loss were still fresh in his mind, he said. As his father – a super fit cycling enthusiast – lay in intensive care, his family had hoped that he would survive.

But time and time again, that hope was taken away by medical setbacks. It was Mr Goodings' extraordinary level of fitness that allowed him to survive for so long. With his father so gravely ill,  said his son, he was unable to grieve for his mother.

Recalling his father in hospital, he said: “He looked so sad and in so much pain – it’s absolutely indescribable.” 

He said the police told him that in the immediate aftermath of the crash, his father had been conscious, and his first words were to tell the police officer to help his wife. “Even with all those injuries and loss of blood,” he said, “he thought of someone else.

“My parents lives have been stolen from them. Lives stolen is the most appropriate term used when describing the effect of the collision on my family’s lives.”

The accident transformed his father - a fit and healthy man who had cycled from John O Groats to Lands End in a week - into a lifeless person, kept alive by tubes and machines.

Mr Goodings outlined how five weeks after the family attended the double funeral for his parents, he was diagnosed with myeloid leukaemia – a condition he believes was brought on by the stress of losing his parents.

His wife Joanne spoke of needing counselling and antidepressants following the tragedy; and how she has become "hypervigilant" when driving, scanning the road for potential hazards or reckless drivers.

Steven Junior's brother Gareth said that he would never recover from losing his parents.  “I spent my 35th birthday holding dad’s hand in hospital as he passed away," he said. "The pain was simply too much to bear.”

Since the tragedy, he had lost a stone in weight  and developed post traumatic stress disorder and a depressive disorder.

He spoke of being upset by social media comments posted by the defendant on the day she entered her guilty pleas, when she spoke about how she would always bleep when going through airport metal detectors.

He added: "I will never overcome this life sentence of grief; part of my also died that day." His mum and dad were his world, his best friends, the very core of him, he said.

Ann Crighton, defending, told the court that the defendant had expressed remorse, stating that words could not express how sorry she was for being responsible for the deaths of two fit and healthy people who were, like herself, parents.

The barrister highlighted the injuries sustained by the defendant.

She said: “She suffered life-changing injuries herself and is in constant pain as a result of those injuries.” That pain would continue for the rest of her life and included numbness in her face and skull.

Formerly somebody who went running every day, she could no longer do that. 

The offending was not the result of a deliberate decision to ignore the rules of the road, saod the barrister; the defendant had kept a clean driving licence for 35 years until the day of the accident.

The barrister added: "I suggest that the standard of driving, legally, was just over the threshold for dangerous driving." Leslie had drifted over the double white lines for up to five seconds and the most likely explanation was a 'microsleep'.

Judge Barker told the defendant that the tragedy she caused had a profound impact on the family of the victims.

“The victim impact statements, read bravely by some, show they are a close knit and loving family; that this incident has ruptured and torn their lives forever," he said.

“To hear their statements – the mother, sister, sons, daughter – their loss is beyond words; and nothing which the courts do today will replace Steven and Christine, who were good, honest, hard-working people; kind and loving.

“They were looking forward to a happy old age together.”

The judge told Leslie: “This court understands that you are not a bad person; you have done a bad thing which has had a truly devastating effect.”

The judge accepted that Leslie was a good mother herself and had done good in her life, working hard and contributing too her community. She had never been before a court before and previously had an unblemished driving record.

“All that speaks to the good in you,” continued the judge.

“But all who drive take on a great burden or responsibility; a burden to drive safely. We all use the roads for business and leisure purposes… when we do so we all take on that burden and that responsibility.

“At the same time, we are all vulnerable to the effects of bad drivers who are not driving to the necessary high standard, and this is just such a case.”

Judge Barker jailed the defendant for 28 months and imposed a 74-month ban. She must pass an extended test before driving independently again.

The judge said that even if the sentence had been less than two years – the threshold at which custody can be suspended – he would have imposed immediate custody.

“I would not consider appropriate punishment could be achieved by anything other than an immediate custodial sentence,” he added. The defendant, of Hamlet Road, south London, wept as she was led away to begin her sentence.

After the case concluded, Detective Constable Caroline Middleton, of the force's Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “This was a horrific collision which resulted in the deaths of two entirely innocent road users – Steven and Christine Goodings.

“What the court case has shown is that Mr and Mrs Goodings, along with the HGV driver, were entirely without fault in this fatal collision and that the responsibility was wholly that of Ellen Leslie, whose vehicle crossed solid central white lines prior to the initial collision.

“What this case so tragically illustrates is that tiredness kills.

"I would urge all drivers to heed the warnings and ensure they never drive whilst tired and always plan long journeys ahead thoroughly to ensure tiredness is not a factor.

“Finally, I would like to express my and the Constabulary’s condolences to the family of Mr and Mrs Goodings following the conclusion of court proceedings today.”

In 2018, Leslie appeared as an expert on Channel 5 show How The Victorians Built Britain. She has also written regularly about the architectural history for magazines and broadsheet newspapers.