MAN CHARGED OVER HORROR CRASH THAT KILLED SIX AND LEFT 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL WITHOUT HER FAMILY

Christopher Cockell, 50, has been charged with six counts of causing death by dangerous driving following the 2024 A61 collision that killed two families.

A 50-year-old man has been charged with six counts of causing death by dangerous driving following a devastating road crash that claimed the lives of six people, including two young sisters.

Christopher Cockell, of Gresford Close, Woolley Grange, Wakefield, is accused of causing the deaths in a collision on the A61 between Barnsley and Wakefield on July 21, 2024.

He is due to appear before Leeds Magistrates’ Court on October 28, 2026, West Yorkshire Police said.

The crash destroyed two families and left an 11-year-old girl without her parents or siblings.

SIX PEOPLE DIED IN THE CRASH

Those killed were Shane Roller, 33; his partner, Shannen Morgan, 30; their daughters Rubie Morgan-Roller, 9, and Lillie Morgan-Roller, 4; and married couple Christopher Barton, 56, and Janine Barton, 48.

Shane was driving a silver Ford Focus carrying his partner and their three daughters.

Christopher Barton was riding a BMW motorcycle with his wife Janine.

An inquest previously heard that the motorcycle was involved in a collision with the family’s car after the motorcycle was overtaking another vehicle on the single-carriageway road shortly before 4 p.m.

The impact caused the Ford Focus to spin off the road before it caught fire.

Emergency crews were unable to free the four occupants of the car, and all four were pronounced dead at the scene.

Christopher and Janine Barton also died in the crash.

AN 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL LOST HER ENTIRE IMMEDIATE FAMILY

Shane and Shannen’s eldest daughter, Poppie, was 11 at the time.

She was not travelling with her family that day and had instead been staying at a friend’s house.

That decision meant she survived the crash but was suddenly left without her parents and two younger sisters.

A GoFundMe campaign was subsequently launched to support Poppie.

The appeal raised more than £400,000, with a family friend describing the girl as having “lost her whole world in an instant.”

Friends and relatives also promised to support her as she faced life without her immediate family.

One tribute described Shannen and Shane as deeply loved members of their community, while another promised that Poppie would always have people around her who cared for her.

TRIBUTES TO THE TWO FAMILIES

The deaths prompted an outpouring of grief from relatives and friends.

Shane’s brother, Callum, said he was “lost for words” and described himself as heartbroken by the loss of his brother, Shannen and the two children.

Christopher and Janine Barton’s son also paid tribute to his parents.

He described them as loving and caring parents who had always put their family first.

The couple had reportedly celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary not long before the fatal collision.

POLICE INVESTIGATION LEADS TO CHARGE

West Yorkshire Police’s Major Collision Enquiry Team investigated the circumstances of the crash.

Following that investigation, Cockell was summoned to appear in court and charged with six counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

The charges relate to the deaths of all six people killed in the collision.

Police confirmed that Cockell is due to appear before magistrates in Leeds on October 28.

The charges are allegations and will now be tested through the court process.

Cockell has not been convicted of the offenses.

For the families of the six people who died, however, the latest development comes more than two years after the crash that changed their lives forever.

A single road collision left six people dead and an 11-year-old girl facing the loss of her entire immediate family — and the legal process surrounding the tragedy is now moving forward.