M4 crash: Driver who killed two young could walk the streets again

Rhiannon Lucas, 27, is furious that the man who killed Gracie-Ann, aged four, along with her three-year-old son Jayden Lee, is being moved to an open prison.

She has been informed Martin Newman is being moved to an open prison just 25 miles from her home - and he could be let out to walk the streets.

Rhiannon says: "There are no words for how angry I feel at hearing this news.

"He only got nine years for killing my two children which was an absolute insult. Now I'm hurt all over again knowing he is going to an open prison where things will be much easier for him. How can that be right?"

Jayden-Lee and Gracie-Ann Lucas (Image: Family handout via Gwent Police)

Newman has served just two years of his nine-year sentence after ploughing his Ford Transit van into Rhiannon’s red Ford Fiesta on February 5, 2022, killing the two children.

He was more than twice over the drink driving limit after consuming 10 cans of Strongbow cider and vodka.

Dad-of-two Newman, from Neath Port Talbot, had been out with colleagues the night before and also had traces of cocaine in his system.

Rhiannon, from Tredegar, Gwent, and her family were on their way back from a children’s birthday party when they pulled over on the hard shoulder of the M4 in South Wales to allow Gracie-Ann to go to the toilet.

The family of Gracie-Ann and Jayden-Lee Lucas, including father Joseph Wheaton (second left), grandfather Jason Lucas (centre), mother Rhiannon Lucas (second right) and stepfather Adam Saunders (right). (Image: Stock)

CCTV footage shows Newman swerving across lanes on the motorway from the Prince of Wales bridge before hurtling into the family’s stationary car at 57mph.

Jayden Lee and Gracie Ann both later died in intensive care at University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, while Rhiannon suffered life-changing injuries.

Newman pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for nine years - a punishment the family felt was light. He was also disqualified from driving for 14 years and eight months.

CCTV footage shows Newman swerving across lanes on the motorway from the Prince of Wales bridge before hurtling into the family’s stationary car at 57mph

Rhiannon and her family are furious that Martin Newman is being moved to an open prison, meaning he could be walking the streets again next month.

Martin Newman has served just two years of his nine-year sentence (Image: Gwent Police)

"I'm crippled with grief most of the time but hearing this has just set me back so much. I had come off medication but now I am back on it because of this news," Rhiannon says.

“It's disgusting - where is the justice for my beautiful children? That man has destroyed our lives.

“I will never hear my children laugh again or see them smile. I have a life sentence of torture and pain."

Van driver Newman had been travelling home from Leicester on the M4 westbound when he veered into the hard shoulder at around 1.45pm.

Prosecutor Roger Griffiths outlined how Newman had "weaved" across the carriageway and been seen straddling lanes and touching rumble strips prior to the collision.

Eye witnesses reported seeing Newman using his phone and driving at high speeds not long before the fatal smash.

His phone was examined and the last phone call ended seven minutes before impact, during which he’d rowed with his ex-partner.

I will never hear my children laugh again or see them smile. I have a life sentence of torture and pain

Eyewitness Cara Williams told Cardiff Crown Court during the trial she’d begged her partner to overtake Newman and “get out of that idiot’s way”, adding: “I thought the driver was either drunk or on the phone and definitely not paying attention.”

When police arrived on the scene Newman was reportedly upset and crying and there was blood on his hands. The officer could smell alcohol on him.

He failed the breathalyser procedure and was arrested for causing serious injury by dangerous driving and drink-driving.

Newman was reportedly slurring his words and tried to claim he was driving in a straight line when something “clipped” him.

Data retrieved from Newman’s van revealed the brakes had been applied 2.5 seconds before impact.

Both children suffered catastrophic brain injuries, while their mother was left with multiple liver lacerations, rib fractures and lung bruises, and spent a week in hospital.

Judge Daniel Williams acknowledged Newman’s offence was the “most serious level of dangerous driving” but said he was unable to impose a higher sentence than the law allowed.

The law dictates he will only be expected to serve half the term in custody.

Newman’s sentence was also reduced by a third because he entered a guilty plea at the first available opportunity.

The family were furious with the decision by the Attorney General not to increase Newman's 'soft sentence' and Rhiannon says Newman has never said sorry or showed true remorse.

Following the sentencing, the children's family expressed their anger and said they would appeal for harsher punishment that reflected the loss of the two young children.

Rhiannon says: "Martin Newman has never said sorry for what he did, not once.

“The legal justice system protects the criminals, not the victims.

"Because of him I spent Mother's Day at the cemetery putting flowers on my dead children's graves.

“They should be running around playing and I should be reading them bedtime stories. But now that will never happen because of his selfish actions.

"The last few years have been so, so hard. After I lost both my children I had to come home to a silent house filled with their toys and games - but they were gone. It was unimaginable.”

Rhiannon wrote to the Probation Service about Newman being moved to an open prison, and was urged to speak to her victim liaison officer.

She claims she was told it's likely he will be able to stay at a family member's house once a week.

“Summer-Gracie will only ever know them from photographs and it breaks my heart she will never meet them," Rhiannon says. "They were such wonderful children.

"It's Gracie-Ann's birthday next month, and Jayden-Lee's in May.

“Instead of having a birthday party with all their friends singing happy birthday to them, I will be taking balloons to the cemetery.

"I know my children will never be forgotten, though. At Gracie-Ann's primary school they keep an empty chair at the table in one of the classes and say, ‘This is Gracie-Ann's chair'.

“No one sits on it. It's really touching and heart-breaking at the same time.

"It seems so unfair that Martin Newman’s life is going to get easier, while our sentence will last till the day I die.”