Woman in court over deaths of two of her children in M1 crash with lorry

Alerts at airports and ports after Mary McCann previously failed to appear in court

Mary McCann with her son Smaller, who died on his 10th birthday (Facebook)

A woman has appeared in court charged with killing two of her children in a crash with a lorry.

Mary McCann, 35, from Derby, appeared via video link from HMP Bronzefield at Aylesbury Crown Court on Tuesday.

The mother-of-four is accused of two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

Her son Smaller died on his 10th birthday in the crash, alongside his four-year-old sister Lilly.

Ms McCann was driving her Vauxhall Astra car on the M1 near Milton Keynes – between junctions 14 and 15 – on 9 August at about 11.10pm on return from London when she crashed into a heavy goods vehicle (HGV).

She and a baby daughter who survived the crash were taken to hospital with minor injuries. The lorry driver was not injured.

Ms McCann was arrested after she had handed herself into Aylesbury police station.

She had been on bail, but has been remanded in custody since she failed to appear in court in September.

Judge Francis Sheridan issued a warrant for her arrest, and the Border Force was asked to place alerts at all ports and airports to prevent her from leaving the UK.

He said it was “most likely” Ms McCann would try to abscond to Ireland.

Mr Sheridan scheduled another hearing for 10 December.