Unlicensed driver faces lengthy jail term for triple manslaughter

An unqualified driver whose car plunged into a lake, causing the deaths of his girlfriend's three small children, faces a "substantial" jail term after being found guilty of manslaughter.

Courtney Barker, 22, a forklift truck driver of Luton, Bedfordshire, hung his head after a jury of 10 men and two women took six and a half hours to return three 11-1 majority guilty verdicts after a two-week trial at Luton Crown Court.

The court was told that Barker was uninsured and unqualified when he lost control of the G-registered Vauxhall Astra, sending it "flying" into the flooded chalk pit in Arlesey, Bedfordshire, on 28 July last year.

The accident took place on one of the hottest days of the year, during a day trip to the popular bathing spot where Barker, his girlfriend, Claire Armstrong, 23, their friend Ryan Purdy, 22, and Miss Armstrong's three children planned a day of swimming followed by an evening barbecue.

But Barker, who had lived with Miss Armstrong for four years and acted as a father to the children, was accused of "showing off" as he drove across fields approaching the pits, with his right foot hanging out of the door and his left foot controlling the three foot pedals.

The three adults escaped, but Miss Armstrong's children – Imran Khan, six, Aaron Khan, five, and their half-sister, Sharla Blair, three, were trapped in the back seat and drowned despite efforts by firefighters to release them.

The court heard that Barker had learnt to drive in a supermarket car park aged 17. He had been driving on the roads for about 18 months before the accident but had not taken a single lesson.

He bought the Astra, formerly an insurance write-off, from a back-street garage. The vehicle did not have road tax or an MOT certificate and he was not insured to drive it.

Police said that prosecutors had considered a charge of reckless driving against Barker, but concluded that it was not appropriate because the grounds in which the accident took place were private property.

The judge, Mr Justice Wright, adjourned sentencing for three weeks. He warned Barker: "After a conviction for an offence so grave [Barker] has nothing to expect other than a substantial period of imprisonment."

After the verdict, the Bedfordshire Police spokesman Des Lawless said: "It is imperative that everybody should have driving lessons and be properly qualified and properly insured.

"We believe Mr Barker had been driving on the road for about 18 months and it is worrying that somebody could be driving like that for that period of time without being caught.

"But the problem is that there are an awful lot of vehicles on the road."

The RAC motoring organisation voiced fears that rising premiums have led to a growing number of uninsured drivers, estimated to be one in 10 in the UK.

Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, the RAC's research arm, said: "If younger drivers can't get insured without paying large sums, they might decide not to get taxed or MOT'd either.

"What we're worried about is that American trends might cross the Atlantic."

Recent figures showed that uninsured drivers were involved in 30 per cent of all fatal crashes on US roads, according to the RAC.

They were also concerned that last year only 1.2 million people took the driving test – 300,000 fewer than in 1996, when the written part of the test was introduced.