Domestic violence campaigner who killed young mother and left her son, four, fighting for life in head-on Audi crash is jailed for seven years
A domestic violence campaigner who killed a young mother and left her son fighting for his life while at the wheel of her Audi was yesterday jailed for over seven years.
A domestic violence campaigner who killed a young mother and left her son fighting for his life while at the wheel of her Audi was yesterday jailed for over seven years.
Jacqueline Mwila, 51, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving over the tragedy which killed Emma Morris, 28.
She also admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving to Ms Morris’s four-year-old son, Jac Williams, who was taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool with ‘life-threatening’ injuries, and Miss Morris’s partner James Walsh.
Mwila was driving through North Wales after taking a ferry back from holiday in Ireland when she pulled out to overtake at 69mph in a 60mph limit, crossing double white lines – ploughing into Ms Morris’s Peugeot 206 hatchback.
After the hearing, Ms Morris’s devastated family said: ‘The sentence she was given does not go nearly far enough.
Emma Louise Morris, 28, (pictured) was tragically caught up in the four-car crash which also left her son with life threatening injuries
Jacqueline Mwila, 51, (pictured) pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving over the tragedy which killed Ms Morris
Jacqueline Mwila was driving through North Wales after taking a ferry back from holiday in Ireland when she pulled out to overtake at 69mph in a 60mph limit
Our lives have been changed forever, shattered, mutilated by the recklessness and carelessness of this woman.
‘Our pain is constant, our hearts remain broken.
According to her LinkedIn page, Mwila is head of national services for Bawso, a Government-funded charity based in Cardiff which helps ethnic minority victims of domestic violence and female genital mutilation.
She was also recognised as a ‘beacon’ to other ethnic minority women in Wales and appointed trustee of a charitable organisation championing fellow ‘role models’.
However, on April 3 last year she was driving her dark grey Audi A3 on a single carriageway stretch of the Felinheli by-pass, when she ignored the no overtaking rule.
Ms Morris was pronounced dead at the scene of the pile-up which also involved a BMW 1 series, and a Skoda Octavia.
As well as James Walsh and Jac Williams, two other people were taken to hospital after what the judge described as a horrific and senseless accident.
Sentencing Mwila to seven years and four months, Judge Timothy Petts said Ms Morris, whose relatives and friends packed the public gallery, clearly had so much to live for – and that her death had left a ‘deep hole’ in her family’s lives.
Ms Morris described as a greatest friend to everyone and a one in a million person
Prosecutor Simon Rogers told the hearing Ms Morris, who also had a younger son, Tomi, was driving Jac to hospital in Bangor on advice of her GP when the accident happened.
Moments before impact, Mr Walsh recalled choosing music on his mobile phone but then heard her shout ‘oh s**t’, looked up and saw a vehicle coming towards them.
In a victim impact statement, Ms Morris’s father Stephen Morris said his “beautiful” daughter was a proud mum and a ‘radiant young woman’.
He said: ‘Her life was just starting out. She has gone and I can’t forget or forgive what happened.
Jac, who suffered a brain injury, had been in intensive care and his wounds and scars will never go away and be a constant reminder of the loss of his mother, he added.
Her mother Julie Morris said the knock on her door from police was what every parent dreads.
She added: She was the most amazing mum.
The court heard Jac had settled into school again but struggled with short-term memory at times.
An online fundraising page for Ms Morris, from Pwllheli, raised more than £8,000.
The organiser wrote: Emma was the greatest friend to everyone and her beautiful smile could light up any room. She was one in a million.’
Defence barrister Richard Dawson said Mwila - herself a mother who supports family in Zambia - was ‘profoundly sorry’.
Bawso was approached for comment.
During yesterday’s hearing of Caernarfon crown court, sitting at Llandudno, Mwila, of Swansea, also received a nine-year driving ban.
