After a motorist admits causing her husband’s death, Claire Mercer says the real blame for smart motorways fatalities lies elsewhere
Claire Mercer has been asked to submit a victim impact statement before the man who admitted killing her husband
is sentenced CREDIT: Charlotte Graham/For the Telegraph
For most grieving widows, writing a victim impact statement offers a chance to plead with a judge to impose the harshest possible sentence for their husband’s killer.
But, the Sunday Telegraph can reveal Claire Mercer will use hers to tell a court the lorry driver who “ploughed into” her husband and another motorist on a smart motorway should be spared jail.
Prezemyslaw Zbigniew Szuba, 40, has admitted two counts of causing death by driving without due care and attention after his 18-tonne lorry hit the stationary vehicles Jason Mercer, 44, and Alexandru Murgeanu, 22, had been driving on the M1.
The magistrates court heard last week he was not speeding, nor was he under the influence of any drink or drugs.
Mr Mercer and Mr Murgeanu had been involved in a minor prang near Sheffield in June last year but failed to reach an emergency refuge on a section of the M1 where the hard shoulder had been turned into a live lane. So, they tucked their cars in against the crash barrier.
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