The young woman stated that she is plagued with regret and remorse.
A young driver who killed a Surrey couple in a head-on collision while high on cocaine was sentenced to three years and five months in prison.
Jessica Higgs, now 20, fell asleep while driving her work’s Mercedes Citan van on the A303 in Yeovilton, Somerset, at approximately 2.40pm.
North Somerset Courthouse heard the vehicle, which was going eastbound at the speed limit of 50 mph, abruptly drift over the white line and into the westbound lane. Higgs’ van collided with a Fiat 500 driven by Tony Mist and carrying his partner Thelma Huse in the passenger seat.
The pair, both 69, from Mytchett, Surrey, were on their way to Charmouth, Dorset, for a two-day glamping holiday to celebrate Mr Mist’s 70th birthday.
They both suffered fatal injuries in the collision, with the father-of-two pronounced dead at the scene and the grandmother-of-five dying in hospital in Bristol the next day.
Higgs, from Warminster, was found to be over the specified limit for benzoylecgonine – a metabolite of cocaine – when her blood was tested at 8pm that day. The electrical apprentice later pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drugs.
Judge Paul Cook jailed Higgs, who had no previous convictions, for three years and five months and disqualified her from driving for five years after she is released from custody. He told her: “There was a catastrophic head-on collision which resulted in their deaths. You were also injured.
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