05-08-2025
Daniel Burba: Cocaine-fuelled dad jailed over son's M6 death crash
A driver on cocaine who had ignored medical advice to stop driving before a crash that killed his teenage son has been jailed for 10 years. Daniel Burba, 31, and from Morecambe, had an epileptic fit at the wheel of his wife's van when it swerved off the M6 near Lancaster on 20 April, killing his 14-year-old son Ryan found a small bag of the Class A drug as they treated Burba, 31, who had previously had seizures because of his abuse of Burba, Preston Crown Court Judge Robert Altham told him he had made a "deliberate decision" to drive and "disregarded the lives of others".
The court heard Burba had been unconscious when Ryan tried to grab the wheel to take control of the vehicle before it crashed into a tree between junctions 33 and 34. Ryan died "in terror", the court was Burba, who had never passed a driving test and only had a provision licence, was taken to hospital with "relatively minor" cuts and injuries to his ribs.
Blood tests revealed he was four times above the legal drug-drive investigation found he had been told by a doctor in October 2014 that he should stop taking cocaine after suffering a seizure which lasted up to four Altham, the Honorary Recorder of Preston, told the court Burba's decision to drive had not been impulsive."You were uninsured. You shouldn't have been driving", he said, adding Burba would have known that taking cocaine would have made the decision to drive even more Altham said Ryan "has been denied the vast majority of his life and he was by any measure a remarkable young boy".
In an impact statement, Ryan's sister said he had "left a hole in my heart which will never be filled".Burba, of Arnside Crescent, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to causing death by dangerous also admitted driving without a licence and without insurance.
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
