Jail warning for death-crash driver

12 April 2012

A businesswoman was told she faces an "inevitable" prison sentence after she was found guilty of driving a Jaguar into a young couple at 113mph.

Mary Butres, 47, was driving John Nichols' Jaguar XJ8 when it hit surface water, skidded and hit Mark Crompton, 20, and his 19-year-old girlfriend Jodie Brown, Nottingham Crown Court heard.

The couple were phoning for help after their Ford Fiesta broke down on the A1's central reservation at Great Ponton, Lincolnshire, when the crash happened in May last year, killing them both.

Nichols, 58, was a front seat passenger in the car which was recorded by its on-board computer travelling at 113mph at the moment of the collision.

He also faced two charges of causing death by dangerous driving and was convicted on both charges along with Butres.

Nichols, of Carlby, Leicestershire, and Butres, of Stamford, Lincolnshire, both denied the charges. They were remanded into custody.

Recorder Greg Dickinson QC said: "A lengthy custodial sentence is absolutely inevitable."

Butres, a boss at a packaging firm, was found to be one-and-a-half times the legal alcohol limit, the court heard.

The business partners, who also had a personal relationship, had been drinking at Nottingham Racecourse before the crash.

Nichols had decided not to drive home because he was over the alcohol limit so let Butres drive his car, even though she had been drinking.

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