Dad of tragic teen who died in horror motorway crash meets his son's killer behind bars

The father of a teenager who died in a motorway crash said meeting his son's killer behind bars has helped him cope with his loss. Andy O'Dell's son Joe Cairns, 14, from Bury, was killed when HGV driver James Majury ploughed into a school minibus on the M58 motorway in Lancashire in January 2019.

Majury, who had been using his phone throughout his journey, also killed support worker Anne Kerr, 50, and injured five others in the horror crash near Bickerstaffe. He was jailed for eight years and 10 months in August 2020.

A court heard that a minute before the impact Majury, then 33 and from Chorley, was using his phone to hold a conversation with his mum about flight prices by text message and go on apps, including Facebook and Sky Sports, and games.

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As part of the restorative justice scheme, Andy, 54, was able to speak to Majury in prison. And while he's not able to say what they discussed during the meeting, he said he was able to 'get the answers he needed' from his son's killer.

He said: "I was very nervous to meet him before. I was angry but not as angry as I've previously been - if he offered to shake my hand or anything like that, then I didn't answer.

"I had a lot of questions to ask him that never came out in court and I got the answers that I needed from him. I also got to see that he was remorseful. It really did help me with my grieving process.

"I don't know if it helps everyone, but it really helped me to move on and helped me get back to who I was. I was very angry and grumpy before and I wasn't me, because there was stuff I wanted to know about and find out, but I wasn't able to.

"But this has given me the chance to