July 10, 2024, 00:06
Zackary Blades (left) was thrown from his car seat onto the opposite side of the A1 motorway.
Image: Durham Constabulary/Handout
A drunk driver who killed an eight-month-old baby and her aunt told police officers after his arrest that “mistakes happen.”
Darryl Anderson, 38, was drunk as he drove back from Newcastle Airport after cutting his holiday short due to a row with his wife.
He took photos of his speedometer as he reached speeds of 141 mph moments before killing his eight-month-old son, Zackary Blades, and his aunt in a collision.
Anderson, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, was sentenced to 17 years in prison at Durham Crown Court for causing death by dangerous driving.
Footage released by Durham Police shows Anderson at a police station after his arrest telling officers: “I rear-ended a car.
“Sometimes mistakes are made, but I’m not a bad person.”
Zackary’s mother, Sharlona Warner, tearfully described the frantic search for her son, who was thrown from his car seat into the oncoming lane of the A1 motorway in Durham in the early hours of May 31.
Recounting the horror of trying to find her baby after the crash, Ms Warner said: “I ran to the back left of the car, where Zackary should have been, but there was no back of the car, it was crushed.
“I couldn’t see my baby, I was standing in the rubble, picking up pieces of the wrecked car and throwing them away, trying to find him, but he wasn’t there. I screamed his name and called 999.
“I saw the other driver and ran up to him and said, ‘Help, I can’t find my baby.’ I was screaming, ‘Zack, Zack.'”
“He didn’t help me, he never helped me. I started running into traffic waving my arms and yelling at cars to help me.”
Zackary Blades was eight months old when he was murdered.
Image: Brochure
Zackary Blades’ mother speaks outside court.
Image: Alamy
Anderson reached speeds of 141 mph when he crashed into the car, killing baby Zackary and his aunt.
Photo: Durham Constabulary
Warner’s sister Karlene was also thrown from the back seat into the front airbags. Both she and her nephew died instantly, Durham Crown Court heard on Tuesday.
Anderson, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving at a court hearing last week.
Judge Joanne Kidd sentenced him to more than 18 years in prison and banned him from driving for another 21 and a half years when he is released.
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Around 50 friends and relatives of the two victims were present in court for the sentencing.
Judge Kidd told Anderson he had been playing “Russian roulette” with the lives of other drivers that night and that a fatal accident was inevitable.
“We were never going to be happy with today’s sentence because it was never going to make up for what we’ve lost, but it’s the best it could have been,” Warner said outside Durham Crown Court.
“All I really hoped for was a lifelong driving ban, which I didn’t get. But now I’m going to fight so that he should never get in a car and drive again.”
Zackary Blades’ aunt, Karlene, also died in the crash.
Image: Brochure
Darryl Anderson was returning from Newcastle Airport after cutting short his holiday due to an argument with his wife.
Photo: Durham Constabulary
Anderson was given a breathalyzer test at the scene and police recorded 95mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath when the legal limit is 35mg.
Police found an empty vodka bottle in the wreckage of his car.
He had been using WhatsApp while driving and took a photograph with his phone showing Ms Warner’s Peugeot, showing the speedometer at 141mph, moments before the crash.
Computer analysis of the Audi showed the car had its accelerator pressed to the floor, did not brake before impact and had a collision warning light on the dashboard.
