Newport Pagnell family’s fight for justice features on BBC’s Question Time days before man sentenced over crash that killed son

Tyler Wilkins, aged 20, of Huxley Close, Newport Pagnell, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison at Aylesbury Crown Court on Monday (September 30), after pleading guilty to one count of causing death by careless driving whilst over the legal limit of alcohol.

He was also disqualified from driving for seven years, and ordered to take an extended retest.

Aidan Webb, 19, from Newport Pagnell, was a passenger in the black Vauxhall Corsa, which crashed in Crawley Road in December 2022.

He died at the scene, while three other passengers, all in their late teens, were taken to hospital for treatment to minor injuries.

Aidan’s dad Scott was among the audience for an episode of the BBC’s Question Time, which was broadcast on Thursday (September 26) from Stantonbury Theatre in Milton Keynes.

Scott was given an opportunity to put the following question to the panel: “My son was killed in an alleged drink driving incident in 2022. We have waited almost two years for justice. Why have we had to wait so long when most defendants in the recent summer riots have already been sentenced?”

Scott was then invited to say a few words in tribute to his son and replied: “He was perfect. He was fun-loving. He had so many friends.

“We had 400 people at his funeral. He knew everyone, everyone would be his friend.”

Asked on the show about the impact on the family of having to wait so long for a sentence Scott replied: “If we get the sentence and it is finished, you can start to move on.

“But it is just a weight overhanging all the time, because you know you have to get to that point. You just don’t get a chance to move on, if you can move on.”

Aidan was not named on the programme because at the time of its broadcast, the case had not concluded in court.

Scott was commended by presenter Fiona Bruce and the panel for his “bravery” in speaking about the issue on the programme.

The panellists for the show were Nadim Zahawi of the Conservative Party, a former Chancellor, Nick Thomas-Symonds of the Labour Party, the current Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Carla Denyer, the co-leader of the Green Party and Zia Yusuf, the chairman of the Reform UK Party.

Thomas-Symonds admitted the court system was “under strain”, and said a “root-and-branch reform” was needed across the criminal justice system.

Yusuf cited “a lack of infrastructure’ and an “explosion in the population.”

Zahawi called for lessons to be learned from the emergency of the riots, and argued they should be applied across the rest of the justice system, while Denyer cited what she called “a decade of chronic under-funding of public services.”

Scott was asked at the end if he wanted to add anything to the discussion and said: “This is about drink driving. There are no adverts on televisions anymore about it.

“With Christmas coming up, is it time to think about lifetime bans for drivers who kill?”

Following the sentencing on Monday, the Webb family released a statement through Thames Valley Police saying: “The last 21 months have been unbearable for our family and although we are happy that we can finally draw a line under this court process, nothing will take away from the fact that Aidan was killed by a drunk driver who chose to drive a car that was not road worthy.

“The faulty automatic brakes, bald tyre as well as driving with a space saver tyre for several weeks shows the lack of consideration given to Aidan as well as the other passengers.

“We call for all drivers who kill whilst over the limit to have a lifetime driving ban.

“We would like to thank our family and friends, Thames Valley Police for their continued support throughout as well as the first responders who attended to Aidan at the scene.”