Woman launches petition for lifelong driving bans after 141mph drink-driving crash killed baby and sister

Darryl Anderson, who took a photo of his speedometer moments before the fatal collision was sentenced to 17 years in prison earlier this month. He was also banned from driving for 21 years and six months.

The horrific incident took place between Chester-le-Street and Durham at 3.15am on May 31. Durham Crown Court heard that eight-month-old Zackary Blades and his aunt, 30-year-old flight attendant Karlene Warner, were killed instantly in the crash which destroyed the back of Shalorna Warner’s Peugeot 308.

Anderson, 38, who was almost three times over the drink drive limit, did not help the distraught mother find her son after he was flung from the car and his crushed car seat, into the opposite carriageway of the A1. Instead, as she frantically searched the road, picking up pieces of debris, it was a lorry driver who eventually found him.

Sharlona was travelling back from the airport after picking up her sister from a holiday, with her son secured in the rear of her car on that fateful night. Analysis of the computer in Anderson’s Audi Q5 showed he had his accelerator pedal fully to the floor and did not brake before impact.

When he took a photo on his mobile phone to show off his speed, Shalorna’s Peugeot could be seen in the picture, as well as a collision warning light illuminated on his dashboard.

The Change.org petition, which now has gathered over 37,000 signatures, says it is “high time that those who take lives on the road are permanently barred from getting behind the wheel.”

The petition reads: “On the 31st May 2024, my world was shattered. I was travelling home with my 8-month-old baby, Zackary, who was securely fastened in his ISOFIX car seat and my sister, Karlene, also wearing her seatbelt. A car, speeding at 141mph. Driving a shocking three times over the drink-drive limit, ploughed into the back of us.

“The driver was also using his mobile phone, snapping a photo moments before the fatal collision with my car clearly visible in the photo and amber light flashing on his dashboard indication immediate collision. My sister was killed instantly, and my son was propelled 50 meters away from our car, he too, killed on impact. “The driver, responsible for the demise of two innocent lives that day, was sentenced to 17 years in prison and received a 21-year driving ban which starts from the date of sentencing. Meaning when he can be released after 2/3 of his sentence in 11 years he will only have a 10 year driving ban.

“This is not justice — not when my loved ones' lives have been so cruelly snatched away. Why should he ever be allowed to drive again, with previous drink driving ban record. Why should anyone charged with Death by DANGEROUS Driving be allowed to drive again. 

“If someone has a gun licence and shoots and kills someone, are they allowed their gun licence back? NO. So why should someone using their vehicle as a weapon be allowed their driving licence back?

“Every year, an average of 1,766 people are killed in the UK due to dangerous driving. This figure does not merely represent numbers but shattered families left in the wake (Brake, the road safety charity, 2022). It's time for change. It's time for the law to reflect the magnitude of these heinous crimes.

Keep ahead of the news, sign up to our flagship Crime UK newsletter. “We call upon the UK Government to implement mandatory lifetime driving bans for those committing death by dangerous driving. This demand comes not only from my devastated family but from all other families who have or may suffer the same agony.

“It's high time that those who take lives on the road are permanently barred from getting behind the wheel. Sign the petition today for Zackary and Karlene and let's ensure that those who drink, speed and kill, never drive again.”