Man admits killing eight-month-old baby boy and his aunt in crash

A man has pleaded guilty to killing a baby boy and his aunt in a devastating crash.

Eight-month-old Zackary Blades and Karlene Warner, 30, both died when the Peugeot 308 they were travelling in was involved in a crash with an Audi Q5 driven by Darryl Anderson.

The fatal smash happened on the A1 between Chester-le-Street and Durham, in County Durham, at around 3.15am on May 31. 

Zackary’s mother Shalorna Warner, 26, who was driving the Peugeot, suffered minor injuries – but lost both her son and sister in the shocking incident.

Anderson, of Clarell Walk, Thorpe Hesley, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, admitted to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving when appearing at Durham Crown Court via video link from jail today.

Around 30 grieving relatives were in the public gallery to hear him make his admission.

The 38-year-old denied separate charges of unlawfully possessing a knife and an axe at the time of the crash – and his not guilty pleas were accepted by the prosecution.

He will be sentenced on Tuesday, July 9 in a hearing which Judge Joanne Kidd said will be ‘very difficult’ for the family of the victims.

Judge Kidd told the court Zackary and Karlene’s relatives had only just heard some distressing details about the crash for the first time shortly before it became known Anderson would plead guilty. 

They will now make victim statements ahead of Anderson’s sentencing hearing next week.

When the judge asked Richard Dawson, defending, if he had any comments to make, he replied: ‘Only to express our sympathy and condolences to those who have been bereaved in this case.’

After the crash, Shalorna and Zackary’s father Jack Blades paid a heartbreaking tribute to their son.

‘I’m so sorry you never got to grow up,’ they said in a joint statement. ‘Our little Zack – mammy and daddy love you so much, you didn’t deserve any of this.

‘You were such a happy, cheeky boy. I am so sorry this has happened – our hearts are truly broken. We will never forget you, you will always be in our hearts.’

The family also paid tribute to Karlene and said: ‘How do we put into words to describe the amazing mother, partner, daughter, sister, granddaughter, auntie, niece, and friend Karlene was?

‘You light up every room you walked into like the bright shining diamond that you were. You had so much to look forward to in life and that has been taken.’

Anderson was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing.

Elsewhere, a one-year-old baby was tragically found dead inside a house in Greater Manchester.

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