A DRUNK DRIVER killed an aunt and baby in horror crash then told the cops, “mistakes happen”.
Darryl Anderson, 38, took a photo of his speedometer showing that he was driving at 141 mph three seconds before he smashed into the back of a mum driving her eight-month-old baby and sister.
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The force of the crash flung the infant, Zackary Blades, onto the opposite carriageway of the A1 in County Durham.
Distraught mum, Shalorna Warner, 26, was left to frantically search for her child, with no help from Anderson, leaving her sister’s dead body in the car.
A lorry driver saw Zackary’s body and screamed at Shalorna: “oh no, he’s here – your baby’s here.”
“I knew instantly. I had to pick my dead baby up from the side of the road. I hugged him so tight, a hug I will never forget”, she added.
Zackaray and Karlene Warner, 30, were both declared dead on the scene on 3am on May 31 2024.
Anderson was jailed in July 2024 for 17 years and three months after admitting two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
When breathalysed at the scene, Anderson blew 95mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath – the legal limit is 35mg. Police also found an empty bottle of vodka in the car wreckage.
Body-cam footage from one of the officers showed Anderson had little concern for his actions, he said: “I’ve drove into the back of another car. Sometimes mistakes happen, but I am not a bad person.”
Anderson’s disregard continued in the hospital where he made jokes with the nurses.
Shalorna was picking up her sister Karlene, an air hostess, from Newcastle International Airport in the early hours of the morning with Zackary strapped into his baby seat in the back.
Anderson was returning from a holiday in Turkey, he had been drinking on the plane excessively after he spent the holiday rowing with his wife who had flown home early.
The Daily Mail reported that Anderson told the parking official at the airport: “I’m going to go to Bradford to find a new wife.”
Durham Crown Court heard Anderson was so drunk he failed to see Shalorna’s Peugeot 308.
When Anderson’s Audi Q5 smashed into the back of the car, Zackary was thrown from his car seat onto the opposing carriageway.
‘I will come back to you, I need to get my baby’
Shalorna said: “I heard a scream, then we stopped. I looked to Karlene, she was pushed so far forward head first into the dashboard.
“I shouted her name, waiting for her to make a sound or move. In my head, I thought: ‘Karlene I will come back to you, I need to get my baby’.
“I exited the car. I ran around to the left rear side where Zackary would have been, there was no back of the car – it was crushed.
“He wasn’t there. I was screaming for his name. I called 999 at 3.19am. This has all just happened within two minutes.
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“That’s when I saw the other driver (Darryl Anderson). I ran to him. He didn’t help…he never helped.
“About 100 meters away I found his (Zackary’s) car seat. It was crushed. I turned it over, he still wasn’t there.”
After the lorry driver alerted her, the mum found her dead baby “lying on the edge of the grass of the motorway”.
Shalorna has revealed to the Daily Mail she called her parents after the horror crash and her mum ” couldn’t make sense of what I was saying but she knew that if I was calling at that time, it was bad.
“I remember saying, screaming ‘They are gone, they are gone’.”
She revealed how she desperately said four words – “I can’t find Zack” – and repeated the phrase “I’m sorry”.
‘Zackary was my rainbow baby’
Shalorna has since said: “No words will surmount the irreparable hole that has been left in my heart and in my life. Zackary was my rainbow baby – he was the light at the end of a tunnel of a very dark time for me and brought joy, happiness, and laughter into my life.
“I will feel the ripples of this pain for the rest of my life. I don’t know if I will be able to get through this – I am scarred, I am traumatised, I am petrified to live my life.
“The impact of these events will amplify the hard times and taint any good moment I may possibly have, because within my heart lives Zackary and Karlene, and I will never live a normal life again without them.”
The Daily Mail has also reported that Anderson made up a story about a hitchhiker he picked up and said it was them driving the car.
A mobile phone, found by PC Dan Cuthbertson and his dog Louie, showed the photograph of the speedometer Anderson took alongside several calls and text messages made before he crashed.
PC Cuthbertson was a friend of Karlene’s and she attended his wedding only months earlier. The officer went to the scene not realising his connection to the victims.
The phone was key evidence in Anderson’s conviction and his plea of guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
He denied unlawfully possessing a knife and an axe at the time of the crash – and his plea was accepted by prosecutors.
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The officer and dog duo have recently been recognised by the Durham Police Force and received the Rising Star Award this week for their work towards the investigation.
The photo taken moments before impact, also showed a red collision warning light was illuminated on Anderson’s dashboard.
Analysis also revealed he had his foot to the floor and did not brake before impact.
‘I’m so sorry you never got to grow up’
Zackary’s mum and dad later paid a heartfelt tribute to their son, they said: “I’m so sorry you never got to grow up.
“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, saying: “How do we put into words to describe the amazing mother, partner, daughter, sister, granddaughter, auntie, niece, and friend Karlene was?”
A joint funeral was held for Zackary and Karlene, mother and sister Shalorna said: “How do you grieve twice? It’s Zack I think of every minute, but I think I just haven’t begun to grieve for Karlene yet.
“I miss her so much. We told each other everything. She’s the one I would have been able to phone and say ‘I can’t do this’, but she’s not here.”
Anderson recieved a 21-and-a-half years ban on driving which means he will get the chance to drive again, this comes after a previous disqualification.
Shalorna has started a petition calling for a lifelong mandatory driving ban for deaths caused by dangerous driving.
She said “on what planet does he deserve a third chance.”
The peition has over 80,000 signatures since Shalorna started it after her tragedy last year.
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