Mum who killed partner in high-speed horror crash breaks down in tears as she avoids jail term

A mum who killed her partner in a horror crash after driving twice the speed limit broke down in court as she was told she would not be going to jail.

Alicia Fairclough, 35, had been driving Thomas ‘Tom’ Benson’s Audi A8 when it crashed into a tree in Bolton on November 6 2021.

The couple, and their children, had attended a friend’s wedding at Rivington Barn before they left at around 10pm. Fairclough had been travelling at over double the 30mph speed limit at the time of crash on Lever Park Avenue in Horwich.

In the aftermath of the collision, the couple’s daughter told a passer-by who came to help her: “Why did my daddy do that?”

She claimed that her dad had ‘grabbed’ and ‘pulled’ at the wheel of the car after the pair had ‘argued’. Fairclough said she decided to drive the car home on because Mr Benson was drunk and ‘staggering all over the place’.

Whilst Fairclough had been seen drinking during the day, she was not over the legal limit to drive, Manchester Crown Court heard.

She was seriously injured during the crash, leaving her with physical and neurological issues. As a result, Fairclough has no memory of what happened in the moments leading up to the collision and the collision itself.

She denied being responsible for the crash, but was found guilty following a trial of death by dangerous driving.

Reading her victim personal statement to the court, Mr Benson’s mum, Lydia Benson said: “No parent should have to say goodbye to their child.

“I had to tell the children their beloved father had died whilst coming to terms with his death myself.

“It is an understatement to say they have suffered life changing traumatic events. Tom was my only son, my eldest child and big brother to two sisters.

“This has taken three