Judge Williams acknowledged that many people would feel that Martin Newman’s term in office was inadequate, but said the sentence handed down by parliament meant he could not be jailed for longer. Newman, 41, has admitted to causing the deaths of three-year-old Jaden-Lee Lucas and his four-year-old sister Gracie-Ann. He also pleaded guilty to seriously injuring their mother, Rhiannon Lucas. The court was told that the painter-decorator twice exceeded the driving limit under the influence of alcohol and had traces of cocaine in his system after a party last night with his colleagues in the East Midlands. Newman, the same father of two, was traveling from Leicester to his home in the village of Croeserw, Neath Port Talbot, in the M4 in a white Ford Transit when he turned around on his shoulder at about 1.45pm. on Saturday. February 5 and hit the solid red Ford Fiesta of the family. They were pulled to allow Gracie-Ann to go to the bathroom after complaining of a bad stomach. Martin Newman. The judge said sentencing laws meant he could not imprison him for longer. Photo: Gwent police / PA Newman fell into the back of the car, where the children were, at a speed of 57 miles per hour, causing them “catastrophic brain injuries.” He had been seen driving erratically before the collision, talking on his phone and drinking red wine while driving, telling police it was for his “dry throat”. He had drunk double vodka, 10 cans of cider and taken cocaine until 5 in the morning on the day of the accident. The judge told Newman that he was guilty of “the most serious level of dangerous driving” but said: “Parliament has set a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Many will think that such a maximum sentence is insufficient to reflect what you have done. Many may request a review of the maximum sentence. “This is not a matter for the court, but for parliament.” The judge said he was bound by law to reduce Newman’s sentence by a third because he had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. Newman was sentenced to nine years and four months in prison. He is expected to serve only half the booking period. He was also banned from driving for 14 years and eight months. Lucas’s uncle, Darren Lucas, said: “We are completely devastated. It should have had a lot more than that. The sentence was not harsh enough to take the lives of two children drunk and drugged and everything else. The law needs to change. The family will appeal for a heavier sentence. “We will start a campaign to change the law and do the best for the memory of these children, so that this does not happen again.” A statement from the Tredegar family, Blaenau Gwent, said: “Our family home now feels like an empty shell without them and the love and happiness they brought us can never be replaced. “Our lives have been ruined.”
