Mum forgives driver who caused death of her son

Sarah West’s son Jamie (15) and his dad Stephen Ramsell both died in the crash, caused by David Everington.

Courageous Sarah, of Mexborough, arranged the sit-down with Everington in jail through the restorative justice programme.

“I wanted to do it,” she said. “In court, there’s all the facts and figures but you don’t get all the answers you want.

“I wanted to know what type of person this man was, how he was in general life, what made him drive like that.

“I hadn’t slept since Jamie died,” said Sarah (36). “I told him that. I said I’d been on painkillers and tried to explain how emotional I’d been.

“I feel I have got the answers I needed. I forgave him. Doing this was about trying to put all that to bed and it has had a positive effect on my life.”

Everington (28), from Barnsley, was jailed for six years eight months in February for the crash in August 2014.

Restorative justice provider Remedi visited Sarah ahead of the meeting and took her there on the day.

The idea is for victims to ask questions and for offenders to realise the true impact of their crime.

During their discussion in September, Everington apologised. He told Sarah that others in his Subaru Impreza, which had included Jamie and Stephen, had wanted him to drive fast.

Evenrington said he did to make them happy — but he recognised that it was solely his choice to speed.

“He was very remorseful,” said Sarah. “He said he had a family himself, and had lost his brother in a car accident.

“The night after the meeting I had mixed emotions as I felt sorry for David, which made this difficult to deal with at first.

“Talking made me realise what type of person he was. It made me understand more. He’s not a horrible person. He didn’t go out to kill that day, he was just showing off.”

Everington said: “I know I can’t change what I have done But this is something I thought I could do that could be of help to the family.

“The thought of meeting my victim’s mum made me very anxious. Once the meeting started I felt a little more comfortable but felt very emotional at the same time.

“I hope Sarah got out of it what she needed and that it has helped her in some way.”

Sarah said: “I didn’t realise how emotional it was going to be, however I feel this experience has really helped.”

There have been six face-to-face meetings since the South Yorkshire Restorative Justice hub was launched in June.

Fifteen cases have led to written communication between victim and offender and 37 more are still active.

South Yorkshire police commissioner Dr Alan Billings said: “We are receiving some excellent feedback from industry professionals and victims.” Visit resorativesouthyorkshire.co.uk for more.