A WOMAN has spoken out about coming face to face with the man who killed her mother in a Booth Lane car crash.

Christine Coates, 75, was driving towards Sandbach in June 2013 when she and her 79-year-old passenger were killed in a head-on collision after a car, driven by Michael Gilligan, drifted onto the wrong side of the road.

Michael was sentenced to six years at HMP Thorn Cross, and Christine’s daughter Helen Drummond took the chance to meet him as part of Cheshire Police’s restorative justice programme.

The scheme allows victims to meet with the people whose offences have affected them, asking questions and explaining how their actions affected them.

Although Helen did not meet Michael until this May, she says the experience has been a positive one that has helped her move on.

Recalling receiving the news from the police, Helen said: “I can’t tell you how devastating that is. I can remember it very clearly. I can remember the evening before very clearly. I can remember falling to my knees and crying out.

“You keep asking yourself, why was he driving, because it wasn’t his car, why was he on the wrong side of the road? He wasn’t drunk or on drugs, he didn’t brake and he didn’t swerve. Why?

“You know what happened but none of that gives you those answers.”

Eight months after the crash, Helen went to court and says she saw a “cocky” 18-year-old who seemed to show no remorse, but says the opportunity to get some answers has altered her perception.

She said: “The reason that I went for it was because I felt so bad that I thought ‘it couldn’t make me feel any worse’.

“We met in May, and almost from the moment I met him I knew that he was different to the person I had seen in the courtroom two years before.

“He answered my questions and I was able to tell him how I felt, how he affected my family and what I had been through.

“He seemed very genuine and he took responsibility for what he had done that night and he apologised. He was very sincere when he apologised. That was quite powerful, to have someone say to me, ‘yes I was driving the car that killed your mum and I am so sorry’.

“Over the next few days this weight was lifted from me. I seemed to be able to think about my mum and not think about the accident.

“Before I met Michael I thought he was a monster, because only a monster could have done what he did.

“But afterwards, when you meet him, you realise he is just a young man trying to put right a terrible thing that he did.”

Police and Crime Commissioner David Keane added: “Restorative justice puts victims at the centre of the criminal justice system; it gives them a voice and allows them to have their questions answered.

“The process is invaluable, and for some people they can only move forward with their lives once they have had their questions answered.”

“Restorative justice can also have a significant impact on the offender and has been accepted as an effective tool in preventing reoffending. It humanises the crime for the offender and encourages them to understand the impact and wider implications of their actions.”