Tributes paid to “kind and caring” mum and son after fatal collision

It took just a split second for life to change forever for William and Alex Boyack.

Having enjoyed a happy family holiday in Derbyshire to celebrate the upcoming 60^th birthday of Angela - William’s wife and Alex’s mother - their journey home to the north-east ended in tragedy when Angela and her youngest son Stephen were killed in a head-on collision on the A632 Chesterfield Road near Kelstedge.

William, known as Billy, and Alex were travelling in a vehicle behind Stephen’s and witnessed the devastating crash on 9 December 2023. They, along with members of the public, desperately battled to help but sadly their efforts were in vain.

Angela was killed instantly while Stephen suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital. His father and brother were told he was expected to survive his injuries and they began to make plans for his recovery. But Stephen then went into cardiac arrest and despite the best efforts of the medical staff, he died in hospital.

Their deaths have not only devastated their family and friends, but left a hole in their community in South Shields, with both Angela and Stephen being well-known for their loving and caring natures.

Billy, who had been married to Angela for 35 years, said: “Losing my wife Angela and my son Stephen has ruined my life in every sense of the word and meaning.

“Angela was a caring, loving wife and friend to me and loving mother to both Alex and Stephen.

“Angela was everything to me. In losing her I have realised what it was that she did for me and for us as a family – all the little things that don’t get done now because they were not something I had to think about. The house is not the same, everything is a constant and unbearably painful reminder of her – everywhere I go I see her and cannot stop thinking about the loss and pain that this has caused.” 

Angela had spent more than 40 years working in a library, where she was able to share her love of books with others. She would often chat to people as they visited, finding out more about the types of books they liked, recommending titles and even making sure that books were ordered in for them to enjoy.

Her caring nature extended further still and she was well known in her local community as someone to go to for advice and support. Angela was firmly at the heart of her wider family too, organising cards and presents for birthdays and spending months planning for Christmas each year.

Billy added: “Angela was important to so many people in innumerable ways. This was demonstrated by the fact that the local council closed the libraries in respect and to allow friends and work mates to attend. Over four hundred attended the funeral of both Stephen and Angela and a further one hundred could not get parked to attend.”

Stephen had inherited many of his mother’s qualities with his compassion towards others shining through.

The 22-year-old had a passion for engineering and would often take things apart to see how they worked. He and his older brother Alex were inseparable, frequently teaming up to tease their mum.

“His sense of humour was fantastic, he always had a smile,” Billy said.

And Alex added: “Stephen was not just my younger brother, he was my best friend. We were like a double act, we would play console games together, go play pool with friends together, go out and socialise together. We got on so well, we would know what each other was thinking at times.

“My biggest fear has always been of losing Stephen. I even had dreams before the collision that Stephen would one day die and I would be on my own. I’d wake up in a panic thinking it was real then would get relief when I’d wake to find it wasn’t. Sadly now I wake up and never get that relief anymore because this is real and it’s a living nightmare.”

He added: “Mum was everything a mum should be. Mum was protective over me, to a fault. Every time I went out she would check in on me via text and no matter what time I’d rock up at home the living room light would be on and she would be snoozing in the chair not wanting to go to bed before I was back home over the threshold.

“There was always the constant worry for mum and for me not wanting her to be anxious. Now I hope she is truly at peace and worries about me no more.”

Having caused the devastating collision when he attempted to overtake a car in the driving rain, Joshua Hill gave no thought to the people in the other vehicle and fled the scene, going on the run from police for two days.

The 27-year-old, who had only bought his BMW X3 vehicle days before, and was on bail with conditions not to be in Derbyshire, stopped a passing motorist to get a lift into Chesterfield. He then got the bus to Sheffield, hiding at various properties in the city before being arrested. He has now been jailed for 13 years after admitting two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

Sentencing him Judge Jonathan Straw said: “Nothing I say or the sentence I can pass can begin to reflect the enormity of this tragedy or act as a yardstick by which the loss of Angela and Stephen is somehow measured.

“Your driving as you left Chesterfield overtaking the initial vehicles in the way that you did was cavalier and reckless in terms of your speed and the prevailing conditions. You were engaging in automotive Russian roulette.

“You should not have been in Derbyshire at all on that day. You were on bail, a condition of your bail being that you do not enter the county.

“We have all seen the desperate attempts that people made to try and extricate Angela and Stephen from the vehicle, not knowing as people didn’t at that stage the extent of their injuries, desperate simply to try and help.

“You didn’t – you stood and watched and then somewhat nonchalantly started to walk off until either your or your mate said ‘run run run’ at which point you took to your heels, got a lift back to Chesterfield and the bus to Sheffield and went to ground.”