A MOTORIST who caused the deaths of two sisters when he overtook a line of traffic approaching a bend was yesterday jailed for three years.
Robin Settle (56) was on the wrong side of the road when he crashed into a car driven by Pamela Moore (82) on the A52 at Donington.
Mrs Moore, of Grosvenor Mews, Billingborough, and her sister Eileen Williams (83), from Stafford, were cut from the wreckage on Bridge End Causeway but later died in Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital.
Lincoln Crown Court heard the sisters were returning from an evening playing bingo with front seat passenger, Barbara Walton, who suffered a broken sternum and internal bleeding during the collision.
Settle was returning to Boston from work in Grantham when he overtook three cars as he approached a sweeping left hand bend.
Chris Lowe, prosecuting, said one of the cars braked to give Settle the chance to pull in behind a lorry but he continued to overtake even when Mrs Moore’s headlights appeared.
“Witnesses described it as incredibly dangerous,” Mr Lowe added. “The view around that bend was severely restricted by the curvature of the road and the growth of foliage on the verges.
“Mrs Moore swerved to the left and slightly onto the verge, but she could do nothing to avoid a near head-on collision.”
Settle suffered a serious leg injury and could not be questioned until November 24 when he admitted overtaking but told police he was on his side of the road when the crash happened.
In a statement read out in court Mrs Moore’s son, Stephen, said: “Our father was killed in an accident 28 years ago, now our mum, both before their time.
“Mum was the heart of the family.”
Alan Wheetman, mitigating, said Settle believed he had pulled in to the correct side of the road, but having seen an accident report he now accepted that must be wrong.
Mr Wheetman added that speed was not a factor. “It is a mystery this case, he was not in a hurry.”
Settle, of Cherry Walk, Boston, pleaded guilty to two charges of causing death by dangerous driving on October 28, 2011. He was jailed for three years, banned from driving for five years and ordered to take an extended re-test.
Passing sentence Judge Michael Heath made it clear Mrs Moore was in no way to blame for the collision.
“This was no way for these elderly ladies to end their lives,” Judge Heath told the packed court.
“His decision to overtake was clearly dangerous to those at the scene.”
In a statement released after the hearing the family said: “Mr Settle’s sentence will be his punishment but for us it will not change a thing. As a family we know all to well from past experience that our sentence will go on an awful lot longer.”