A summons has been issued to Christopher Cockell, 50, of Gresford Close, Woolley Grange, over a collision on the A61 between Staincross and Newmillerdam on July 21, 2024. He is due to appear at Leeds Magistrates’ Court on October 28, 2026.
Police said on Monday, September 21, that Cockell had been charged with six counts of causing death by dangerous driving, one count for each of the six people who died.
West Yorkshire Police said of the new charges: “He has been summoned [on the new charges] following an investigation by the Major Collision Enquiry Team (MCET) into the collision.”
An earlier charge of failing to stop at the scene of the crash had been brought against Cockell in March 2025.
Six Died in Collision
The crash killed a couple, two of their young daughters, and two people traveling on a motorcycle — six dead in total.
Two of the daughters of Shannen Morgan, 30, and Shane Roller, 33 — Rubie, nine, and Lillie, four — died alongside the couple. A third daughter, 11, survived because she was not in the vehicle.
The BMW motorcycle involved in the collision was carrying Christopher Barton, 56, and Janine Barton, 48, from Barnsley, who also died.
An inquest previously heard that Christopher Barton was riding the BMW motorcycle when it was struck head-on by a silver Ford Focus at the wheel of which was Shane Roller. Shortly before 4 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon, the two vehicles met.
Tributes and a Fundraiser
Athersley North Primary School, where Rubie and Lillie were pupils, described the crash as a “devastating, tragic loss” and said of the older girl: “She always worked really hard and was well-liked by her friends. She was a fantastic role model for her peers and aspired to be a teacher.”
The school also said: “Lillie was a bright, bubbly, and happy little girl who was a popular member of her class.”
Shane Roller’s father, Graham, paid tribute to his son and daughter-in-law, whom he described as an “amazing” mum and dad.
Callum Roller, Shane Roller’s brother, wrote on social media at the time that he was “lost for words,” and paid tribute to those killed. “You all had a heart of gold and gonna miss you all like crazy!” he wrote.
A fundraiser for the couple’s surviving 11-year-old daughter, who was left orphaned by the crash, has raised more than £400,000.
Two families were left grieving. One household lost a mother, a father and two young girls, and its surviving daughter now has care and schooling paid for through a public fundraising appeal; the Bartons of Barnsley lost a husband and a wife. For relatives of the six killed, the court process is only beginning.
Other Cases in Court
A number of fatal-crash prosecutions, Cockell’s among them, are moving through the courts, and each has reached a courtroom milestone months or years after the crash itself.
Tyler Reck, 24, was charged in July by the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office in Michigan with a pair of reckless driving counts resulting in death, plus two counts of committing a moving violation that caused a death inside a work zone. Those charges stem from a crash on U.S. 127 northbound in the area of Holt Road on May 26, 2026.
Two Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) workers, Bruce Wagner, 51, and Steve Spenle, 49, were struck and killed when Reck’s vehicle went out of control at high speed, according to investigators. Bond was set by a judge at $25,000 personal recognizance.
Counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and a felony count of reckless driving that inflicted serious injury have been brought in Riverside County, California, against sheriff’s deputy Glynn Wilburn, 42, in connection with an on-duty crash on September 6, 2025. The charges were announced by prosecutors in June 2026.
Gavin Hinkley, 21, was killed and his fiancée, Madeline Fox, 20, was left with life-threatening injuries when Wilburn ran a red light at speed and struck the young couple’s car at 71 mph, prosecutors said. A conviction could bring up to 14 years in prison, and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said he was on administrative leave.
New York Driver Faces Sentencing
A guilty plea to manslaughter, assault and reckless driving came on Friday, September 4, 2026, from Felix Jose Pantaleon Tavarez, 24, of Lindenhurst, in New York. The charges arose from a September 22, 2024, crash on the Southern State Parkway near Exit 39S in North Babylon.
Speeds of up to 121 mph, cutting off other drivers, weaving between lanes and filming himself on his phone were all described by Suffolk County prosecutors. Both cars left the road and went into trees in the collision, and Reynaldo Collado, 49, of West Babylon died at the scene.
Pantaleon is now reported as convicted of manslaughter, assault and reckless driving, and is expected to be sentenced to four to 12 years in prison when he returns to court on October 23. Prosecutors said a passenger in the victim’s Honda suffered a fractured vertebrae and pelvis, and three other occupants required hospitalization.