Peterborough parkway crash fatal: Family’s ‘indescribable pain’ as judge praises motorists who stopped to help

The family of three people who were killed on the Frank Perkins Parkway have described their ‘indescribable pain’ as the man responsible for the head-on crash was jailed.
By The Newsroom
Published 20th May 2019, 14:22 BST
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Tommy Whitmore (26) was jailed for eight years and four months at Cambridge Crown Court this morning (Monday) for causing the deaths of Marko Makula (22), his 21-year-old fiancee Jana Kockova and her 19-year-old brother Tomas Kocko.

Marko and Jana, who had two children aged two and one, had been to pick up Tomas and were on their way home when the crash happened by the Stanground junction after Whitmore drove the wrong way down the slip road.

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The court heard how Whitmore had been drinking earlier in the evening and was also over the legal cannabis limit.

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Marcela Kockova and Ladislav Markula - mother and father to Tomas and Jana - outside court. Photo: Terry HarrisMarcela Kockova and Ladislav Markula - mother and father to Tomas and Jana - outside court. Photo: Terry Harris
Marcela Kockova and Ladislav Markula - mother and father to Tomas and Jana - outside court. Photo: Terry Harris

On top of his prison sentence he was also banned from driving for nine years and two months.

In a victim impact statement which was read out in the court, the families of the deceased said they felt “indescribable pain” and the “mental wounds may never heal”.

Moreover, during sentence Judge David Farrell QC praised the actions of other motorists who stopped to try to help, including some who stopped on the other side of the road and crossed the central barrier.

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