Couple whose two sons were killed by drink-driving footballer are barred from adoption - because they are 'still grieving'
Phil and Amanda Peak
Heart-wrenching: Phil and Amanda Peak say they feel ready to open their hearts to another child
The parents of two boys killed by a drink- driving footballer have been barred from adopting - because they are still grieving.
Amanda and Phil Peak were devastated by the death of their only children, ten-year-old Arron, and Ben, eight.
The boys were killed when former Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper Luke McCormick, 25, who had been driving at up to 97mph, dozed off and ploughed into their father's car.
Mrs Peak is unable to have any more children because she had a hysterectomy after Ben's birth so she and her husband are desperate to adopt.
But they have been told by officials at Salford Council that they will not be considered for adoption for two years.
Mrs Peak, 33, said: 'We were told that because we're both still grieving and in the public eye we wouldn't be suitable. It was just heart-wrenching.
'When I think of all those poor children in homes who have nothing, I think, "Please let me be a mother to one of them". It almost feels like we're being punished for our children dying in that car accident.
'We were good parents. We brought Arron and Ben up properly and their head teacher said to me just recently how polite they always were.
'All the other kids from the area used to look up to Arron as an example of how to behave.'
Mrs Peak, of Partington, Greater Manchester, added: 'No child is ever going to replace Arron and Ben. They were our kids. But we still want to be parents.'
The Peaks refuse to abandon their dreams of becoming parents again and have applied to neighbouring Trafford Council in the hope that officials there will let them adopt.
Under guidelines used by councils, parents who apply to adopt after the death of a child are asked to take time fully to mourn their loss before deciding whether to commit to another child.
Mo O'Reilly, of the British Association for Adoption and Fostering, said: 'It must be remembered that adoption is a service for children not for parents looking for children.
Asking bereaved parents to wait a while is a common sense approach and was put in place to prevent later rejection of the child and maximise the chances of a successful adoption.'
At Stoke Crown Court last October, McCormick was jailed for seven years and four months after admitting causing death by dangerous driving and drink driving.
The crash happened on the M6 near Keele, Staffordshire, last June as Mr Peak, 37, was driving his sons for a day trip to the Silverstone motor racing circuit.
McCormick had earlier attended a former team-mate's wedding and was driving to Coventry in his Range Rover to confront his girlfriend over claims that she had been unfaithful.
He dozed off and hit the Peaks' Toyota people carrier. The boys died while their father suffered a crushed spine and a broken neck, swollen lungs and a lung clot.
The accident left Mr Peak in a wheelchair and he later suffered a stroke. He is slowly walking again with the aid of a stick.
Tests found that McCormick had 74micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath, more than double the legal maximum.
A Salford Council spokesman said: 'It would never be appropriate to comment on individual cases.
'Adoption is a significant emotional step for everyone involved and not something anyone would take lightly.'
I don't know much about adoption law---especially Britain's---but I certainly hope after that two-year period is over, that they're able to adopt.
In the meantime (again, not know much about British law), I wonder if they could sue the pants off of him. The jail time he got was ridiculously low if you ask me. I would love to see him suffer financially.
They should have put that scum-bag, not IN the jail, but UNDER the jail!
For the rest of his life, he should be locked up so far away that he won't be able to hear the dogs barking!
I say, solitary confinement for the rest of his life!
I'm fat and sassy! I love to sing & dance & stomp my feet & really rock your world!
All I want to hear from an ex-jock is "Will that be paper or plastic?" After that he can shut the fuck up!
Heah comes da judge! Heah comes da judge! Order in da court 'cuz heah comes da judge!
Four months definetly isn't enough he killed TWO children not one but two that is even worse. He should get at least four or five years maybe even more. I feel so bad for the childrens parents. What they have to go through now because of that idiot is just horrible.
I think the worst time to have a heart attack is when you are playing a game of charades...or a game of fake heart attack.
'He's walking on their graves': Parents blast drink-driving goalkeeper who killed their sons as he is released from prison for weekend trips
The parents of two boys killed by a drink-driving footballer have accused prison bosses of letting him â??walk on our childrenâ??s gravesâ?? by allowing him out at weekends.
Luke McCormick was jailed for more than seven years after killing Arron Peak, ten, and brother Ben, eight, in a motorway crash in 2008.
But after serving just 32 months, the goalkeeper has been granted overnight release to see fiancee Naomi Richards and their two-year-old son.
He has been seen getting into the passenger seat of a Range Rover identical to the one he was driving when he killed the boys.
Last night Arron and Ben's parents, Phil and Amanda Peak, said McCormick's release was â??disgustingâ??.
Mr Peak, 39, who still suffers agonising pain as a result of injuries sustained in the accident, said: â??Itâ??s like walking on the kidsâ?? graves â?? they might as well take him to the graveyard.
â??Our eldest would have been a teenager now, but both their lives were taken away and his punishment is less than three years in jail.â??
Today is three years to the day since McCormick, 27, a former England youth international who played for Plymouth Argyle, killed Arron and Ben when he ploughed into the familyâ??s Toyota Previa people carrier. Mrs Peak was not in the car.
Mr Peak added: â??It is particularly painful for us around the anniversary.
â??He is in a holiday camp that seems to let him out every few days â?? it is just so wrong.â??
McCormick had been drinking all evening at a former team-mateâ??s wedding and had only two hoursâ?? sleep the night before the crash in June 2008.
Intent on confronting his fiancee about rumours she had cheated on him, he jumped into his vehicle as dawn broke and sped down the M6.
During his trial, the court saw images from motorway cameras which showed him driving the high-performance car â??like an idiotâ?? and bearing down on the Toyota.
He was more than twice the drink-drive limit when he hit the back of the people carrier as Mr Peak was taking his sons to Silverstone race track in Northampton for the day.
Arron and Ben suffered horrendous injuries and died in the crash while their father suffered injuries to his spine.
McCormick admitted causing death by dangerous driving and drink driving. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 14 years but he was jailed for seven years and four months and will be free in half that time.
He is now allowed out of Leyhill Prison in Gloucestershire at weekends.
Prisoners nearing the end of their sentence can apply for overnight release licences to maintain family ties and make arrangements for accommodation and work or training on their release.
Mr Peak, of Partington, Greater Manchester, said: â??We lose our sons and are sentenced to a lifetime of heartache and McCormick is sentenced to bed and breakfast in jail.
'My lads are missing out on their lives while he gets to watch Sky TV in prison.'
Mrs Peak, 33, added: â??It is absolutely outrageous as he wasnâ??t even sentenced until the October of 2008 â?? so he serves just over two-and-a-half years.â??
The Ministry of Justice does not comment on individual cases but a spokesman said: â??Prisoners may be released on temporary licence providing they meet strict criteria and pass a rigorous risk assessment.
â??If prisoners breach their licence in any way, they will be subject to disciplinary proceedings and are likely to be moved to closed conditions.â??
I would not blame Mr Peak if he went after Luke McCormick, the drunken football player who MURDERED his two sons, and blew his head off with a double barrel 12 gauge shot gun!
ON HIS MAMA'S PORCH WITH HIS MAMA LOOKIN' ON!!!
Some people really deserve to die!
If I were the father of the two children, I would go after Luke McCormick, knock him unconscious, take him out somewhere far away, and when Luke McCormick regained consciousness, he would wake up laying in the bottom of an abandon mineshaft, left there to starve to death, and maybe decades later, somebody might find his skeleton.
That fucker deserves to die alone, and never be found!
I'm fat and sassy! I love to sing & dance & stomp my feet & really rock your world!
All I want to hear from an ex-jock is "Will that be paper or plastic?" After that he can shut the fuck up!
Heah comes da judge! Heah comes da judge! Order in da court 'cuz heah comes da judge!
I'm fat and sassy! I love to sing & dance & stomp my feet & really rock your world!
