Officer's son jailed over fatal collision

A policeman's son who killed two neighbours in a head-on crash during a "a moment of madness" has been jailed for five years and four months.

Judge Peter Ross told Timothy Summers that he showed a "flagrant disregard" for the rules of the road.

Edith Haynes, aged 66, and Merline Ebanks, 50, were killed in the crash.

Summers, 28, was driving at over 70mph on the 30mph Willenhall Road in Darlaston when his Mitsubishi Evo hit their taxi in September 2007.

Summers had been overtaking cars and sped over a canal bridge on the wrong side of the road.

Taxi driver Mukthar Miah was seriously injured.

Summers has been left with lack of movement in one side of his face and a limp.

His father Neil Summers, who works for West Midlands Police, was at Coventry Crown Court to support him.

The force refused to release a photo of Summers, citing "issues around the individual's health".

Summers, of Acorn Road, Ashmore Park, Wednesfield, admitted two charges of causing death by dangerous driving.

Judge Ross said he would have given him a jail sentence of eight years but reduced it due to his early guilty plea, remorse and the impact of the accident on himself.