Couple killed by TV historian who had ‘micro-sleep’ behind the wheel
A TV historian who had a ‘micro-sleep’ at the wheel causing a crash that killed a husband and wife has been jailed.
Ellen Leslie, 55, an acclaimed heritage consultant and commentator, dozed off while driving her youngest son Theo, 21, home to London from Edinburgh.
A court heard Leslie collided with an oncoming lorry. Christine and Steven Goodings, who were in the car behind Leslie, died when the truck then ploughed into them.
Leslie – an architectural historian who appeared as an expert on Channel 5 show How The Victorians Built Britain in 2018 – was yesterday jailed for 28 months at Carlisle Crown Court having admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
Sentencing her, Judge Nicholas Barker said the family of Mrs Goodings, 61, and her husband, 60, had suffered a ‘deep and profound’ loss.
Turning to Leslie, Judge Barker told her: ‘The court understands that you are not a bad person, though you have done a bad thing which has had truly devastating effects.’
The court heard the tragedy happened on the A66 near Warcop, Cumbria, around noon on May 23, 2022.
Video footage from a passing vehicle captured the shocking moment Leslie’s VW T-Cross drifted across double white lines and into the lorry’s path.
The goods vehicle driver then lost control and hit the Goodings’ VW Golf. Prosecutor Peter Wilson said: ‘Both Christine Goodings and Steven Goodings tragically lost their lives.’
There were gasps from the couple’s relatives as footage showing the shocking collision was played in court. Leslie took no evasive action.
A police crash investigator concluded she made no interaction with the car’s controls for five seconds before impact.
The prosecution said Leslie suffered a ‘micro-sleep’ – where people drift off for a few seconds when tired.
Afterwards she told police she had ‘ no idea’ why the crash occurred and said she had not been tired. But Judge Barker concluded it was ‘highly likely’ that Leslie briefly fell asleep.
The day before, Leslie and Theo travelled more than 400 miles from her then home in Chiswick, west London, to Edinburgh. She had woken at around 4am and made four planned stops.
There, she and her student son moved belongings in two trips from his university digs to a flat, finishing at 6pm.
She messaged her partner, Oxford University professor Dr Sloan Mahone, describing her ‘knackering day’.
The two ate a meal and stayed at an Edinburgh hotel. Receipts showed four 250ml glasses of wine were ordered but Theo told police he had not drunk alcohol.
Leslie went to bed at 9.30pm and slept until around 7am, although she woke twice during the night. Before she set out, she
‘Deep and profound loss’
claimed to have ‘felt absolutely refreshed’.
Theo was asleep at the time of the crash.
Leslie, of Bromley, southeast London, admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving. She said of the tragedy: ‘I’ll live with that for the rest of my life.’
The couple, from Sunderland, had been married for almost four decades and ‘did most things together’, the court was told.
Leslie must serve a fiveyear driving ban and pass an extended test before getting behind the wheel although she is said to have no intention of ever driving again.