Council and firm fined over deaths

Jeremy and Lina Watson died in April 2000

A city council and a road maintenance firm have been fined more than £160,000 for a road accident in which a newly married couple were killed.

Jeremy and Lina Watson died in April 2000 in an accident on the A15 at Paston Parkway.

It had been caused by a maintenance crew closing the dual carriageway, Peterborough Crown Court heard.

The crew were instructed to close the road after an articulated lorry overturned in April 2000.

Instead of gradually closing lanes and diverting motorists away, the court heard, workers from Ringway Highway Services strung a line of traffic cones across all lanes of the southbound carriageway directly after an exit sliproad.

Mr and Mrs Watson, from Peterborough, who had been married only nine months before the crash, hit a green Rover which had stopped at the line of cones.

The accident happened on the A15 at Paston Parkway

That collision spun their Renault car sideways. It was then hit from the side by a following car.

Mr Watson, 42, died instantly. Mrs Watson, 34, died days later.

On Thursday, Peterborough City Council was fined £14,000 for its part in the crash. Ringway was fined £150,000.

The council was ordered to pay £14,000 in costs while Ringway was ordered to pay £42,000 costs.

Peterborough City Council and Ringway had pleaded guilty at previous hearings to breaching health and safety legislation.

The court heard on Thursday that the city council had instructed Ringway officials to close the A15 southbound to allow police to clear the overturned HGV further up the road.

It's nice to know Lina and Jeremy didn't lose their lives in vain Tony D'alelio, Mrs Watson's brother

Linda Dodds QC, prosecuting, said the team sent by Ringway was untrained and the company had been given poor information from the council.

She said: "The Ringway men were untrained to deal with the job they were doing."

Judge Peter Jacobs added that it was "blindingly obvious that the road should've been closed gradually instead of using one line of cones".

'Overwhelmed by judgement'

In mitigation, lawyers for Peterborough City Council and Ringway claimed that a breakdown in communications and poor systems for dealing with such incidents had led to the crash.

Mark Harris, for Ringway, and Christopher Russell, counsel for Peterborough City Council, said they had both developed further training schemes for their staff.

Speaking outside the court, Tony D'alelio, Mrs Watson's brother, said of the fine: "I'm overwhelmed. I'm pleased that the judge took this action, we've got some form of judgment and satisfaction.

"I hope that they put their house in order and any form of prevention of people losing their lives on our highways is a blessing.

"It's nice to know Lina and Jeremy didn't lose their lives in vain."