A mother killed her two young sons when she lost control of her car due to an under-inflated tyre as she drove them home from school, a court heard today.
Eight-year-old Louie Ellis and Mason Ellis, aged six, died after the Vauxhall Astra driven by Amy Sheppard, 29, collided head-on with an Audi in October 2023.
A judge was told that a day earlier, Sheppard sent her partner a WhatsApp message which read ‘my tyre is going flat again,’ followed by a frown emoji.
Prosecutor David Eager said a four-year-old child in the Astra was also injured but survived, and three adults in the Audi were hospitalised with serious injuries.
Sheppard pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of the two young brothers by careless driving but was spared jail after a judge was told she had already suffered the ‘greatest punishment’ in losing the two children.
The siblings were passengers in the back of her car, wearing seatbelts, with the four-year-old child in the middle in a car seat.
Sheppard also admitted three counts of causing serious injury by careless driving relating to Timothy Gregg, who was driving the Audi, his wife Sasha, who was in the front passenger seat, and his brother-in-law, Wayne Grantham.
The court heard Sheppard had picked up her two sons from a primary school in Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, after finishing her job as a nursery nurse.
She was travelling along the A52 to her home in Hutoft when she failed to negotiate a left hand bend.
An expert vehicle examiner later concluded Sheppard lost control of her car at Sutton on Sea due to an under-inflated offside rear tyre which gave a reading of just 5 psi following the collision, but which could have lost pressure during the crash.
Mr Eager told the court Sheppard’s Astra simply crossed into the opposite lane and collided head-on with the Audi.
He explained ‘the seeds were sewn the previous day’ when Sheppard sent her partner the WhatsApp message about the deflating tyre.
Mr Eager said Sheppard’s partner mistakenly checked her front right tyre that evening and it gave a reading of 32 psi.
‘Sadly, tragically he did not check any of the other tyres,’ Mr Eager added.
CCTV footage obtained by the prosecution showed the under-inflated tyre on Sheppard’s journey to work, and Mr Eager explained there were two local filling stations with psi machines within a four mile radius when she started her last journey.
An experienced motorist who was travelling behind Sheppard on the A52 described how she was driving otherwise normally ten miles below the speed limit, but noticed the under-inflated tyre and estimated its psi at just 15-20.
Mr Eager said the driver was so concerned that he dropped backwards and noticed the Astra was ‘wallowing’.
‘The back end went, it turned 45 degrees,’ the driver explained.
‘It must have been like it appeared from nowhere to the guy in the Audi.’
Louie passed away at the scene of the accident. Mason and a four-year-old child were air lifted by the Air Ambulance to Sheffield children’s hospital. Mason sadly passed away just hours later but the four-year-old survived, Lincoln Crown Court was told.
Mr Eager said Sheppard, who was also injured, gave a full account during a two hour police interview in which she admitted being aware of the under-inflated tyre and not rectifying it.
A moving victim impact statement from the boys’ father, Laurie Ellis, who was separated from Sheppard and with a different partner at the time of the collision, described Mason as his best friend who was ‘always cheeky, always smiling’.
‘Losing him feels like losing part of myself,’ Mr Ellis explained.
Mr Ellis also noted Louie’s love of football and watching Liverpool together.
‘I miss the little things the most,’ Mr Ellis added.
Mr Ellis said of Sheppard’s decision to drive with an under-inflated tyre: ‘Any normal parent would never take that risk. I will never understand it, I will never forgive it,’ Mr Ellis insisted.
Katherine Robinson, defending, said Sheppard had been assessed as suffering from a severe mental health condition as a result of the trauma of the incident.
Ms Robinson concluded by urging the court to pass a non-custodial sentence and stressed the ‘greatest punishment’ she could ever face was the loss of her children.
‘That will stay with her forever,’ Ms Robinson stated.
Sentencing, Judge James House KC said a ‘miscommunication or misunderstanding’ between Sheppard and her partner over which tyre had deflated ‘led to catastrophic consequences’.
Judge House said Sheppard, who had no previous convictions or endorsements on her licence, chose to drive home before rectifying the tyre issue.
‘It was that decision, or non-decision which is the carelessness in this case,’ Judge House insisted.
He said the fact Sheppard was still the primary carer for a young child, coupled with the strong mitigation, meant he could suspend her jail sentence ‘as an act of mercy.’
Sheppard, who was accompanied at court by her identical sister, was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment suspended for two years, banned from driving for two years and must take a retest.
She must also complete a 12-month mental health course and 35 rehabilitation activity requirement days.
