Driver who killed young sisters as he overtook a bus on a blind bend is jailed for four years

Lily and Shelly Wu, aged seven and six, were holding hands as they used a pedestrian crossing when they were hit by Michael Junior's Seat Leon car on June 21 last year.

They were walking with two other youngsters and their mother Zhulan Wu, who a court heard suffered such serious physical and psychological injury from the crash that she was sectioned earlier this year.

Junior, a 35-year-old engineer, had already admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, and was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court.

Outside court, Wu family friend Alex Yip read a statement, saying: "Four years is not long enough - for us this is a life sentence."

The court heard Junior had accelerated to get around the bus just before a blind left-hand bend, leaving himself with no time to react as the family crossed in front of him.

He had also ignored road signs warning of elderly pedestrians crossing, a sign reading "Slow", and chevron markings on the tarmac signalling a crossing ahead.

Using CCTV from the stationary bus, investigators worked out Junior had been travelling at 47mph in the 30mph zone in Grove Lane, Handsworth, Birmingham.

Gareth Walters, setting out the prosecution case, said: "A collision was inevitable."

Sgt Steve Newbury, from the force's Collision Investigation Unit, said: "Our thoughts are with the Wu family at this time; they have been through a traumatic and tragic investigation.

"No sentence delivered today, I am sure, would ease the pain and suffering felt by the family but I am pleased that Junior entered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity and the family didn't have to endure every upsetting detail of the investigation and evidence.

"I would like to thank the hard work of the Collision Investigation Unit and that of the Forensic Reconstruction Unit which has produced irrefutable evidence which I am sure has led to Mr Junior pleading guilty.

"We have supported the Wu family through our dedicated Collision Investigation Family Liaison Unit from day one and will continue to offer support.

Judge Murray Creed told Junior: "This case is a tragedy for you and your family, but a much greater tragedy for the Wu family as the two young children's lives were ended by your driving."

He added: "You struck that group of pedestrians almost as they reached the central reservation marked ahead of them.

"Mrs Wu (and the other children) hit the front and were thrown to the floor. But unhappily, the two smaller children were carried a short distance along the bonnet before being left to lie in the road, both fatally injured."

Junior, of Copthall Road in Handsworth, also pleaded guilty to causing serious injury to the girls' mother and two other children, for which he received two years in jail to run concurrently.

Ms Wu had been taking her two daughters to Chinese classes when the accident happened, while Junior had just dropped his father off on his own son's birthday.

As he overtook the bus, its driver tried to warn Mrs Wu and the children crossing 10 metres in front by sounding the horn, but saw no reaction.

Junior ploughed straight into the group, knocking 39-year-old Mrs Wu and the two other youngsters to the ground, but Lily and Shelley were carried along on the bonnet of the car.

The girls suffered "unsurvivable" head injuries, said Mr Walters.

A hospital surgeon described Shelly's wounds as "one of the most severe head injuries he'd seen in a child", the prosecutor added.

Mr Walters said: "The collision investigator confirmed the defendant would not have had sight of the family until directly in front of him. He had less than 30 metres to react. Given his speed gave him 21 metres per second to react, a collision was inevitable."

Mr Walters said the two other children had recovered, but added that while Mrs Wu's physical injuries had healed, she had been left with "significant" mental health problems.

"At the girls' funeral, Mrs Wu didn't remember they were her children due to her brain injury and blames herself for the loss of her daughters."

He added that because of depression and suicidal tendencies, she had to be sectioned for six days in January.

Her husband Ming Wu, in a victim impact statement read to the court, said: "She spends most of her time hiding in the bedroom, and won't go out and have contact with anyone."

Junior, a father-of-five who pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, apologised in court through his barrister Timothy Harrington.

After the hearing a family friend read a statement on behalf of Lily and Shelly's parents: "We have had ripped from us two beautiful daughters, two sisters to our two eldest, two granddaughters, two lives taken from us all, from each and every day for the rest of our lives.

"We have lost the wife and mother we once had, the heart of the family, strong, independent, who we depended on, and who will never be that way again.

"We have lost the family we once were, the complete family, the future we once took for granted and we will never have a single moment like that ever again. We were all innocent and did nothing to deserve this, except cross a road, where we live hand in hand. And now we have lost everything, our lives, and nothing can be the same again.

"No length of time can be long enough. There can be no justice. Because nothing can replace our two girls, two beautiful futures, our once vibrant mother, what we had and how they would have lit up our lives.

"We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been with us through this time. Everyone who has shared our grief, supported us, all the professionals who have given themselves for free, the Chinese Community Centre Birmingham, Christine Lee Solicitors, the HK funeral service, they have gone above and beyond. Everyone who has had us in their thoughts and prayers and helped in ways we don't even know. Thank you.

"We would like to especially thank the QE, the Children's Hospital, all the police, the investigating team, PC Stacy for securing the conviction, and especially police family liaison officer PC Butler who has been with us throughout.

"The last words are from Lily and Shelley's brother and sister - Thank you everyone for your support. We miss our sisters so much and will always remember them. We are doing fine."