The court heard that the 41-year-old painter and decorator Newman was drinking and taking drugs when his Ford Transit crashed into the car carrying the brothers, also known as Wheaton, along with their mother and father Adam Saunders. .
The sentencing came just two days before Gracie-Ann was celebrating her fifth birthday. Instead, the devastated family returns home in an “empty shell” in front of the school where the children were students. The children’s father, Joseph Wheaton, and father Adam Saunders wore T-shirts with photos of Gracie-Ann and Jayden-Lee printed on the front, and a statement from the family was read. The family members wore a T-shirt with photos of the children printed on the front (Image: Dimitris Legakis / Athena Pictures) He said: “On Saturday, February 5, Martin Newman destroyed our family by taking our two beautiful children, Gracie-Ann and Jaden-Lee. “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. “He chose to drive his vehicle under the influence of alcohol and drugs and these actions showed complete disregard for the safety of anyone and we have paid the highest price for his illegal and non-social acts. “We hope that today’s sentence will act as a deterrent to anyone who may think he is driving in a dangerous way, especially when he is intoxicated with alcohol and drugs and is distracted by a mobile phone. No sentence of imprisonment that a court can impose will ever be enough and will never bring back Gracie-Ann and Jayden-Lee. “We would like to thank the Welsh Ambulance Service, the Wales Air Service and the University Hospital of Wales for their professionalism and expertise in giving children the best possible survival with maximum compassion. The treatment Gracie and Jaden received in our eyes was world class and our hearts are with all these wonderful people. “In addition, we would like to thank the Gwent police investigation team for their determination to bring Newman to justice with the overwhelming evidence they have presented in court and the support we have received. “Finally, a sincere thank you to the community of Tredegar and wider Wales for the help and support we have received since the first day of this tragic event. Not a day goes by that we are not offered a lot of love and help that really meant the world to us. Thanks.” The family thanked the people for their support (Image: Dimitris Legakis / Athena Pictures) Grandpa Jason Lucas said: “I would not want my worst enemy to go through what we went through and we feel disappointed with the government. It should not have happened to anyone in four and a half years and it will be out. He killed two innocent babies and when he comes out he will “He can see his children. My daughter will never see hers again.” During the hearing, sentencing judge Daniel Williams described the court’s sentencing power in the case as “inadequate”, but said his sentencing powers were limited by Parliament’s guidelines. Addressing Newman, he said: “This is the most serious level of dangerous driving. It included gross violation of the rules of the road and complete indifference to the danger caused to others by your driving. “The aggravating features are that you have previous convictions for driving offenses, including driving under the influence of alcohol and using a mobile phone while driving, and secondly, the most serious aggravating feature is that you caused the death of two children and the serious injury of their mother. , which was left without. “There is no real mitigation in this case. Any remorse you feel and not self-pity does not affect the sentence to be imposed by this court. You have a limited understanding of the broader consequences for others affected by the conflict. “As this was an isolated case, the court is obliged to impose simultaneous sentences, but to reflect the extent to which I can total your insult to the sentence that was issued. “The maximum sentence is 14 years in prison. Many believe that such a proposal is insufficient to reflect what you have done and there will be many who will ask for this maximum sentence to be reconsidered. This is not a matter for any court but for Parliament. “You pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and no reduction can be withheld due to insufficient maximum penalty.” Newman drank wine behind the wheel (Image: Gwent Police) The accident happened on the M4 motorway heading west between junctions 28 and 29 in Newport. Gracie-Ann died the day after the crash and Jayden-Lee five days later. The brothers, from Tredegar, were on their way home from a birthday party when the car they were traveling in was hit by a Transit driven by Newman on South Avenue in Croeserw, Cymmer, Neath Port Talbot. An interrogator heard that the children were in a car that was stationary on the hard shoulder. The 41-year-old defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving. He also pleaded guilty to causing serious injury to the mother of the children Rhiannon Lucas with dangerous driving. Appearing in Cardiff Crown Court on Friday after being remanded in custody, Newman, who was sobbing in his chair, also pleaded guilty to charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and driving drugs. A shocking and incredibly powerful personal statement of the victim by Rhiannon Lucas was read during the sentence. He said: “I feel lost without my children. Nobody understands what I’m going through. I know I’m still in shock and I’ve not worked out exactly what happened and I’m not sure if I’ll do it for long. I constantly feel like I’m riding a wave up and down and I do not know when it will stop. “I sleep about three hours a night and suffer from flashbacks and nightmares of the accident. My mind does not seem to stop and it is constantly running a hundred miles per hour. I started falling asleep and was told I was suffering from traumatic stress disorder. When I wake up I think of the kids and we should have taken a different route to Cardiff. But I know I’m not to blame and I’m telling Adam. I know that the person in charge is to blame. If he were not on the road that day, Adam and I would not have been through all this. “I am taking strong analgesic drugs to try to help me with the pain from my injuries from the accident. I have always suffered from depression and now it only gets worse. My daily medication makes me drowsy and I suffer from severe headaches that cause a huge lack of motivation. “I know, Adam doubts and blames himself for that. I tell him that he should not and that he is a better driver than the one in charge. Adam knows below what limits he would or would not be allowed to drive. I do not understand why people should drink or take drugs these days. Even using your mobile phone, we have such good technology that we just do not need it. “People need to know when you drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs that you are putting other people at risk, and that’s what the person in charge did that day. I hate that people think they can do it and get away with it. And because of his actions that day it happened “. Ms. Lucas’s statement, written before the children’s funeral last month, continues. He said: “I have the funeral to come and I know it will hit me like a ton of bricks. I feel anxious and I know that my anxiety will irritate me this day. The community was a great support network, but we had people who started rumors – asking why Adam resigned, why we did this, why we did that – but I try not to let people take my best. “My daily life would revolve around children. I would love to clean the house after them, clean their rooms, wash their clothes and get them ready for school. I miss my dad making boiled Gracie-Ann eggs and Jayden-Lee having cereal or chips for breakfast. I miss that a lot and I feel that life is boring now. I see other parents taking their children to school. I struggle to smile at them, wishing it was me, Gracie-An and Jaden Lee. “We had a good bedtime routine. The bed would be at half past seven every night at the latest. I slept with Jayden-Lee and my dad used to put Gracie-Ann to sleep every night – he would tickle her back and sing her songs to put her to sleep. She would never go to bed without him. “I can not sleep without Jayden-Lee’s pillow and my dad can not sleep without Gracie-Ann’s booboo which was her comfort blanket and Jayden-Lee teddy bear. These items still smell like it was the last thing he lay on. When I have these items I feel that both children are still with me. Nevertheless, it is heartbreaking that both of my children are still gone. The house is not the same and will never be the same. “Their toys stayed exactly where they left them that day.” Ms. Lucas described the personality of her children. He said: “Jayden-Lee had a bad personality and a large group of friends. However, Gracie-Ann was different and enjoyed her own company. She was as quiet as a mouse. As different as they were, they both lived in each other’s pockets and would always be together. I miss their different personalities and how they were. He was always with me and there …
