Driver who killed couple in head-on crash jailed for more than three years
Jessica Higgs pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drugs.
A young driver who caused the deaths of a couple in a head-on collision while under the influence of cocaine has been jailed for three years and five months.
Jessica Higgs, now 20, fell asleep while driving her work’s Mercedes Citan van on the A303 near Yeovilton, Somerset, at about 2.40pm on May 15 2023.
North Somerset Courthouse heard the vehicle, which was travelling eastbound up to the speed limit of 50mph, suddenly drifted over the white line and into the westbound lane.
Higgs’ van crashed head-on into a Fiat 500 being driven by Tony Mist with his partner Thelma Huse in the passenger seat.
The couple, both 69, from Mytchett, Surrey, were on their way to Charmouth, Dorset, for a glamping trip to celebrate Mr Mist’s 70th birthday two days later.
They both suffered fatal injuries in the collision, with the father-of-two pronounced dead at the scene and the grandmother-of-five dying in hospital in Bristol the next day.
Higgs, from Warminster, was found to be over the specified limit for benzoylecgonine – a metabolite of cocaine – when her blood was tested at 8pm that day.
The electrical apprentice later pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drugs.
