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Car insurance news

Uninsured driver kills couple
on their wedding day

A driver who killed a couple as they drove home from their wedding has been jailed for four years.

Damien Sylvester had no car insurance, was speeding and had never passed a driving test when he lost control on the motorway, smashing into barriers and causingthe death of his newlywed passengers.

Paul and Zoe Williams were travelling without seatbelts and were thrown from the car as it careered off the road, dying instantly. Sylvester walked away relatively unscathed from the accident which happened in the early hours of the morning in August 2004. He had been driving the couple home along the M1 after celebrating their wedding at a Leeds nightclub.

Judge Shaun Spencer, sentencing, said, “You had no motor insurance for the vehicle and… were taking passengers into the car without the required skills having been acquired.

“I take the view that culpability in this case is high.”

The court heard that 27-year-old Sylvester was travelling at speeds of up to 93mph along the outside lane of the motorway when he attempted to turn down a slip road, cutting across two lanes in the process. He was unable to make the turn, however, and the car went into a spin, crashing into a barrier and careering down an embankment.

In addition to his stint in prison, the killer was also banned from driving for seven years. If he does ever drive again he will to be too old to qualify for a special deal on young driver car insurance, and with a death by dangerous driving conviction on his record, cheap car insurance is not going to be easy to find.