A 50-year-old man has been charged with causing the deaths of six people by dangerous driving following a fatal road crash in the United Kingdom.
Christopher Cockell is accused of six counts of causing death by dangerous driving over the collision on the A61 between Barnsley and Wakefield on July 21, 2024.
The crash claimed the lives of Shannen Morgan and Shane Roller, along with their daughters, nine-year-old Rubie and four-year-old Lillie.
Husband and wife Christopher and Janine Barton, who were travelling on a motorcycle, also died.
Cockell is due to appear before Leeds Magistrates’ Court on October 28, according to West Yorkshire Police, following an investigation by the force’s Major Collision Enquiry Team.
An inquest previously heard that Roller, 33, was driving a silver Ford Focus when it collided head-on with a BMW motorcycle ridden by Barton, 56, at about 3:50pm.
The hearing at Wakefield Coroner’s Court was told that the motorcycle had been overtaking another vehicle on the single-carriageway road, which had a speed limit of 50mph (80km/h).
Coroner’s support officer Phil Marr told the hearing, “As a result of a head-on impact, the car was spun to the side of the road, where it caught fire.
“It was not possible to release any of the occupants and all four were pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.”
Marr said a pathologist determined that Barton’s provisional cause of death was head and chest injuries, while Janine Barton suffered fatal chest injuries after being thrown onto an adjoining golf course.
Morgan and Roller, who lived in Athersley, Barnsley, had another daughter, aged 11, who was not in the vehicle at the time of the crash.
A fundraising campaign launched by a family friend subsequently raised more than £400,000 for her.
Roller’s father, Graham, paid tribute to the couple after the tragedy, describing them as an “amazing” mother and father.
“Shane wasn’t just a son but an amazing father and he had a heart of gold,” he wrote.
“Shannen, our daughter-in-law, was funny and was also an amazing mum and they thought the world of their little family.”
Rubie and Lillie attended Athersley North Primary School.
The school’s co-head teachers, Clare Storr and Kirsty Wordsworth, described the girls as “a delight to teach”.
The teachers added, “The girls were a credit to their parents, who were always incredibly supportive and who will also be greatly missed.”
Christopher and Janine Barton, who had lived in Barnsley, had recently marked their 25th wedding anniversary.
Their son previously described them as “a loving, caring mum and dad who always put me before everything else”.
Cockell, of Gresford Close, Woolley Grange, was also previously charged with failing to stop at the scene of a collision.
