Mother Mary McCann admits killing children in motorway crash on M1 near Milton Keynes

A mother has admitted killing her two children in a motorway crash while drunk.

Mary McCann was driving on the M1 with her two children – Lilly, four, and Smaller, 10 – in the back when the family car crashed with a Scania HGV.

The two children were killed instantly in the smash, which happened on the M1 near Milton Keynes on 9 August.

The 35-year-old was charged soon after the crash when police discovered she had been drunk at the time. However she went on the run for nearly a week after dodging a court hearing when she was charged.

McCann, of Bamford Avenue, Derby, admitted two counts of causing death by careless driving while unfit through drink when she appeared at Aylesbury Crown Court on Wednesday.

Following a Thames Valley Police investigation, the woman has been convicted of two counts of causing death by careless driving that occurred on the M1 near Milton Keynes.

Judge Francis Sheridan said he pitied the police who had rushed to the scene.

He said: “Who would want to be a member of the roads policing unit having to attend scenes like this? I don’t know how they do it.”

Her defence barrister, Laban Leake, asked Judge Sheridan to delay her sentencing so that a psychiatric report could be prepared about her. The judge added that he wanted to know how many other children McCann had, before considering her sentence. No details of the incident were read to the court.

A third passenger, a two-year-old girl, was not seriously injured.

The driver of the lorry was not injured.

Investigating officer, Sergeant Dominic Mahon, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit at Bicester, said: “This was a tragic incident in which two young children lost their lives.

“My thoughts remain with their family at this incredibly difficult time. Thankfully they will not have to go through the ordeal of a trial due to McCann’s guilty pleas today.”

McCann, who was remanded in custody, will be sentenced on 25 April.