In the courts

A businesswoman who was over the drink drive limit when she killed a young couple while speeding at 113mph has been jailed for more than seven years. Mary Butres, 48, lost control of a high-performance Jaguar XJ8 saloon after she hit standing water and aquaplaned while returning from a day out at the races.

She careered into Mark Compton, 20, and his 19-year-old girlfriend Jodie Brown, who were walking away from their car after it had broken down on the A1 near Grantham, Lincs,

The couple, who were walking along the central reservation, were hit with such force that they were hurled onto the opposite carriageway.

They were killed instantly but Butres and her passenger John Nichols, 58, who owned the car, escaped unhurt, Nottingham Crown Court was told.

The recorder showed the Jaguar was travelling at 113mph - whereas other traffic had slowed to 40mph because of the standing water. Butres denied ever driving at more than 100 mph.

She was originally sentenced to nine years.

I can’t find any reference to a driving ban being imposed, so I imagine this driver, who has exhibited no remorse at all for her actions, will in due course be back behind the wheel of another powerful car.