A 79-year-old drink driver who caused a crash which killed an elderly woman and her daughter was today jailed for four years.
John William Edward Clarke was over the legal limit when he lost control of his car on a bend and crashed into an oncoming vehicle near Oakham, Rutland, in March 2010.
The driver of the oncoming car, 65-year-old Jacqueline Hibbins, of Oakham was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her mother 85-year-old Jeanne Slyfield, who lived with her daughter in the town, was taken to hospital with serious injuries and died four days later.
Clarke, of Warne Crescent, Oakham, Rutland, was sentenced at Leicester Crown Court this afternoon.
He had pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink at an earlier hearing.
A judge today also banned him from driving for 10 years.
The collision happened shortly after 11am on Thursday, March 18, 2010 on the A6003 Oakham Road, just outside of Oakham.
Clarke, who was driving his Ford Galaxy towards Oakham, failed to negotiate a bend and crossed on to the opposite carriageway, colliding with the oncoming Ford Focus.
Detective Constable Paul Bingham, from the Serious Collision Investigation team, said: "This was a tragic incident which left the family to cope with not just the loss of one member of their family but two.
"Both Jacqueline and Jeanne were loving mothers and grandmothers with Jeanne also being a great grandmother.
"Their deaths have left a huge space in their families' lives and they are still attempting to deal with the effect that this tragedy has had on them some three years on.
"This case is a sad reminder of the devastating effect drink driving can have and we hope that this highlights the consequences that the drunk driver may face."
