Driver, 19, jailed for falling asleep at the wheel and killing couple (2024)

A teenage driver who fell asleep at the wheel of her delivery van before fatally ploughing into an elderly couple while under the influence of cocaine has been jailed for three years and five months.

Jessica Higgs, then 19, had cocaine in her system - 36 hours after taking the drug at a weekend party in May 2023.

On Friday, Higgs, now 20, was jailed after she admitted causing death by careless driving while over the limit for a controlled drug.

Taunton Crown Court heard that Higgs had driven from Salisbury, Wiltshire, to Axminster, Devon, taking two hours.

She then had a nap and a break before setting off on her return journey.

But as she drove her Mercedes van on the A303 at Camel Hill near Yeovilton, Somerset, she momentarily fell asleep at the wheel and drifted across the 50mph road carriageway into the westbound lane of Tony Mist and his partner Thelma Huse, who were both 69-years-old.

The court heard Higgs, from Warminster, Wilts, had been driving well before she dozed off.

After the crash, she was pulled from the van by another driver and she told him: 'I fell asleep.'

Higgs, from Warminster, was found to be over the specified limit for benzoylecgonine - a metabolite of cocaine - when her blood was tested at 8pm that day.

Father-of-two Mr Mist died at the scene and grandmother-of-five Ms Huse died the next day in hospital.

The couple, both 69, from Mytchett, Surrey, were on their way to Charmouth, Dorset, for a glamping trip to celebrate Mr Mist's 70th birthday two days later.

Their relatives were in court and gave victim personal statements to the judge.

They said their deaths were 'entirely preventable' and they 'left this world in the most callous ways'.

The electrical apprentice pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drugs.

Judge Paul Cook jailed her and banned her from driving for five years from the time she is released from prison.

Defence barrister Malcolm Galloway told the court Higgs, who has no previous convictions, had only had her licence for nine months.

He said she had taken cocaine at a party on the Saturday night and had left for work early on the Monday morning after an early night to bed.

He told her: 'There was a catastrophic head-on collision which resulted in their deaths. You were also injured.

'What all the impact statements make clear is the heartbreaking devastation that has been suffered by the family members and those who loved them.

'They say these were two people with so much more life to live for and to give.'

The judge said character statements provided for Higgs described her as caring, loving and thoughtful.

He added: 'While physically you have recovered, you are consumed by guilt and remorse and described as a shell of the person you were.'

The judge said Higgs, who wept throughout the court hearing, was driving within the speed limit and other motorists did not note anything unusual until the van drifted across the road.

He told Higgs: 'I accept that you didn't know you had cocaine still in your blood, however nodding off as you did was a consequence of being overtired.'

The court heard Higgs went to a party on May 13 and took cocaine, last consuming the drug in the early hours of May 14 - around 36 hours before the crash.

She went to bed early that day and awoke at 6am before being collected for work at 6.25am. Later that morning, she was tasked with driving her work van from Salisbury to Axminster.

Higgs picked up a water pump at Axminster and had an hour's rest before setting off to drive back to Salisbury at 2pm.

Prosecuting, Rupert Russell, said Mr Mist would not have had the 'time or space to avoid the collision' once Higgs' van had crossed over the white line.

He told the court Higgs had been 'up all night on the Saturday to Sunday taking cocaine' which had caused her to be tired.

'It is the tiredness which clearly led to this tragedy,' Mr Russell said.

The court heard Mr Mist and Ms Huse had been together for 30 years and were both due to celebrate their milestone 70th birthdays shortly after the collision.

Kate Cory, Ms Huse's daughter, described how they had been travelling to Charmouth 'for a much-anticipated glamping holiday' for Mr Mist's birthday before celebrating Ms Huse's birthday with a theatre trip.

She added: 'Their 30-year love story came to an abrupt end far too soon and that's something none of us will ever get over.'

Malcolm Galloway, representing Higgs, said she was aged 19 at the time of the collision and had held her driving licence for just nine months.

'The remorse is genuine,' Mr Galloway said. 'Of course, if she could turn the clock back, she would.'

Speaking outside court on behalf of the victims' families, Ms Huse's ex-husband Jim Huse said they had been 'devastated by the totally preventable actions of Jessica Higgs'.

'We hope that others will learn from this, as no journey is so important that it should take place when your brain is compromised by the effect of drugs,' he said.

Tony Hall, an officer with Avon and Somerset Police, added: 'It is every motorist's responsibility to make sure they are in fit enough to drive before getting behind the wheel and it is clear Higgs was not.

'This is another painful and devastating reminder that driving while under the influence of drugs is a deadly decision that puts yourself and innocent road users at serious risk.'