A41 crash driver jailed for six months

Feb 1 2008 by Richard Fletcher, Chester Chronicle

WATCHED by families from both sides, Michael Wood showed no emotion as he was sentenced to six months imprisonment for dangerous driving.

The 19-year-old, from Woodlands Drive, Hoole, was the driver in a car crash that left 16-year-olds Tristan Cook and Dominic Arnold dead.

The sentencing was the last chapter of a trial last year that saw Wood convicted of careless driving. He was cleared of death by dangerous driving at the same hearing.

Another driver, Matthew Ferguson, of Little Heath Road, Christleton, was cleared of dangerous driving during that trial.

Tristan and Dominic, both 16, were rear passengers in Wood’s VW Polo, that lost control on the A41 near Dragonhall on December 10, 2006.

Wood had also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving when a convoy of cars did handbrake turns on Sainsbury’s and Broxton car parks.

On Friday, February 1 at Chester Crown Court, Judge David Hale sentenced Wood to six months in a young offenders institution, a two year driving ban and an extended test requirement. There was no extra penalty for careless driving as only a fine could be imposed.

Tristan’s step sister, Katherine Hannible, said outside court: “I feel a bit better. Maybe they [Wood’s family] will know how we feel now, because they’ve lost their son for a few months.”