Driver jailed for causing fatal collision by using phone

A driver who caused a head-on collision, killing an elderly couple, has been jailed.

On 9 May 2022, Patricia Pringle was behind the wheel of her blue Volkswagen Golf on the A47 at Barrowden when it crossed onto the opposite side of the road and collided with a silver Fiat Qubo.

A call was made to emergency services shortly before 4pm but when police and ambulance crews arrived the occupants of the Qubo – 89-year-old Clive Jones and his wife Elaine, 82 – were pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the Golf – 56-year-old Patricia Pringle – was taken to hospital to be treated for a broken arm. An investigation, led by detectives from the force’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit (SCIU), began and several eyewitnesses were spoken to.

One motorist, who had been following Pringle’s car, said he stopped at the scene. He told officers Pringle had implied she was holding her mobile phone at the point the collision occurred. It was later identified that Pringle had been in a phone call at the time the incident occurred.

On 13 May this year Pringle, of Park Vale Road, Spinney Hill, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and one count of possession of a controlled drug of class B – cannabis.

Today (Friday 21 June) she was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment. Pringle was also banned from driving for five years which will begin on her release from prison and she will have to take an extended retest.

Patricia Pringle

Detective Constable Emma Mitchell, from the SCIU, was the officer in the case. She said: “Throughout the investigation, Pringle appeared to show very little remorse for her actions. However, I’m pleased she faced up to what she’d done.

“While no sentence is going to bring Clive and Elaine back, I hope today’s outcome allows their loved ones to feel that justice has been done and provides a degree of closure to them.

“There’s a reason why using a mobile phone while driving can result in points on your licence. I would like to think this case serves as a stark warning to road users who think it’s acceptable to do so that their actions can have fatal consequences.”