Jailed: 12 years for driver in stolen car crash which killed two people on Black Country New Road
A driver from Walsall who took the lives of two men when he crashed a stolen car head-on has been jailed for 12 years.
Marvin Griffiths was driving a stolen black Jeep Grand Cherokee, chasing another vehicle along Bull Lane before turning right onto the wrong side of the A41 Black Country New Road in December 2019.
The 26-year-old hit a black VW Golf head-on, near to Patent Shaft Roundabout, just after 10.30pm on December 6.
Despite the best efforts of emergency services, the driver of the Golf, Palminder Singh Kalkat and 21-year-old William Kai Bristow, a passenger in the Jeep, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Two other passengers in the Jeep sustained serious injuries, as well as Griffiths, but all three men have since recovered.
In the days following the crash, Palminder’s family said: "On the 6th December 2019 our lives changed forever.
"Palminder, 37, was a kind hearted, selfless individual. He was a son, brother and a friend to many.
"He was driving a black VW Golf when he was the innocent victim of a head on collision.
"His loss has left our family broken.”
Avoidable
In a statement read out in court, William’s mother said: “No parent should have to bury their child.”
Griffiths, from Mill Street, Willenhall, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and a further two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
He appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday and was jailed for a total of 12 years.
Detective Sergeant Alan Hands, from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “This is a really tragic but totally avoidable case, where Griffith’s actions stole the lives of two men and caused serious injuries to two more.
"Although nothing will bring back the lives of the two men, I am pleased that their families have not had to be put through the ordeal of a trial, and I hope they will find comfort knowing Griffiths has been brought to justice and will spend a long time behind bars.”
Griffiths was also banned from driving for eight years and 10 months, and will be required to sit an extended retest before being allowed behind the wheel again.
