Drug-drive dad who killed his son, 8, will 'have to live with the consequences for life'

A drug-drive dad who killed his young son in a motorway smash will 'have to live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life', prosecutors have said.

Leon Clarke, 40, was 13 times over the drug-driving limit when he got behind the wheel of his uninsured BMW to pick up his two sons Blake, eight, and Mason, six, from their grandparents' house in Middleton, near Rochdale, to drive to Marple, Stockport.

A court heard in heavy rain and standing water in February 2020, he lost control of the car on the M60 near Audenshaw and it aquaplaned and collided with a highways maintenance lorry parked on the hard shoulder.

Blake, together with his younger brother, was pulled from the wreckage of the BMW 3 Series, but tragically died in hospital hours later.

Clarke, of Red Lane, Rochdale, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving whilst over the drug driving limit and causing death by driving while uninsured. He was jailed by a judge for four years at a sentencing hearing at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court on Monday.

The Crown Prosecution Service, which brought the tragic case to court, said Clarke's drug use would 'no doubt' have 'contributed to his impairment to drive carefully'.

Jayne Sharpe, a senior Crown Prosecutor for the CPS, said in a statement released after the case: "Leon Clarke was well over the drug limit when he chose to drive with his two young children in the car.

"Those drugs will have no doubt contributed to his impairment to drive carefully. He will have to live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life. My thoughts are with all those who have been affected by the truly tragic events of that day."

Clarke, added the CPS, was driving in the outside lane when he