Kevin Hooton, 42, has admitted causing death by dangerous driving after a head-on crash on the A66 in West Cumbria killed two people. He appeared at Carlisle Crown Court on Monday, November 2, where he pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving while not insured and while disqualified.
The crash happened just after 6.30pm on Saturday, July 12 2025, in the area of Broughton Cross, west of Cockermouth. Hooton moved from the westbound to eastbound carriageway and collided head-on with Abby Storey's black Ford Focus, fatally injuring both Ms Storey and his passenger, Marty Roberts.
Ms Storey, 35, from Salterbeck, Workington, and Mr Roberts, 34, from Bootle, both suffered fatal chest injuries. Andrew Holding, Ms Storey's partner who was driving the Focus, was also badly injured. Hooton was under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident.
Previous Drug Convictions
Hooton, formerly of Field Street, Everton, was convicted in 2018 of a slew of drugs charges, including conspiracy to supply crack cocaine, supplying heroin and amphetamine, and possession of cocaine and heroin with intent to supply. He also admitted dangerous driving after being caught by undercover officers in Liverpool.
At the time, Hooton, who was 33, sold heroin and crack cocaine through a "flash phone" staffed 24/7 by his associates operating from Liverpool to Swansea. The operation was disrupted by undercover police who called the flash line asking for drugs. Hooton would then phone his accomplice Alan Davies, who typically delivered the goods and collected cash at agreed rendezvous points.
Arrest and Sentencing
Hooton was arrested in September 2017 after a member of the public reported seeing a small handgun through the open front door of a house in Morriston, Swansea, and hearing men with Scouse accents shouting inside. Armed police swooped on the house and detained him, recovering a quantity of heroin and crack cocaine.
Just three months earlier, he had been arrested as part of an investigation into an Everton-based gang preying on rough sleepers and other vulnerable people in Liverpool city centre. The Langsdale-estate outfit operated a 24-hour phone line with associates working shifts to take orders, storing drugs in a safe house in Jenkinson Street, with Hooton mixing and bagging drugs at addresses linked to the gang.
On December 5, 2016, Hooton was seen on William Henry Street handing out wraps of heroin to around 20 addicts, who formed an orderly queue outside his BMW. David Leathley, defending Hooton at the time, said his client had been coerced into dealing by a criminal gang in Liverpool to whom he owed money, and that Hooton was remorseful and now had an "almost Biblical" drive to "put his wicked ways behind him".
Hooton was jailed for a total of six years and eight months, while Davies was jailed for three years. He was released on licence in January 2021 but returned to crime inside three weeks, despite his promises to mend his ways.
Upcoming Sentencing
Hooton will be sentenced for the deaths of Abby Storey and Marty Roberts at Carlisle Crown Court on December 21. The case was adjourned and he was remanded in custody.
