Michelle McCann: Mother admits killing two children by dangerous driving in M1 crash with lorry

Michelle McCann is due to be sentenced in April having pleaded guilty to death by dangerous driving

Wednesday 16 February 2022 09:23 EST

(Michelle McCann/Facebook)

A mother has admitted killing her two children in a motorway crash with a lorry near Milton Keynes.

Mary McCann, 35, of Bamford Avenue, Derby, pleaded guilty to two counts of death by dangerous driving at Aylesbury Crown Court.

Her children Smaller and Lilly, 4, died when she crashed her Vauxhall Astra into a lorry between junctions 14 and 15 of the M1 on 9 August last year.

It was Smaller’s 10th birthday on the day of the crash, which happened at around 11.10pm.

McCann and her baby daughter who survived were taken to hospital with minor injuries. The lorry driver was not injured.

The 35-year-old was arrested after she had handed herself into Aylesbury police station.

She had been on bail but a warrant was issued for her arrest after she failed to appear in court in September that year.

Border Force was asked to place alerts at all ports and airports to prevent her from leaving the UK.

Judge Francis Sheridan said it was “most likely” McCann would try to abscond to Ireland. She was then remanded into custody.

A lawyer for McCann asked the judge to delay her sentencing so that a psychiatric report could be prepared about her.

The judge added that he wanted to know how many other children McCann had, before considering her sentence.

Speaking in court on Wednesday, Judge Sheridan said he pitied the police who had rushed to the scene of the crash.

He said: “Who would want to be a member of the roads policing unit having to attend scenes like this.”

No further details of the incident were read to the court and McCann will be sentenced in April.