THE dangerous driving of John Spink, who killed two elderly people in a head-on crash, was "as close to murder as it gets," a judge has said.

Gordon Cousen, 79, of Goddard Close, Barton, and his passenger, 83-year-old Peggy Nolan, formerly of Windsor Drive, Caistor, died in the crash.

Their Volkswagen Fox was hit head-on by a Volkswagen Golf driven by Spink, 47, of Marsh Lane, Winteringham on the A1077 near South Ferriby on August 12.

They were returning home after a shopping trip to Scunthorpe.

Spink – who Grimsby Crown Court heard had been diagnosed as a psychotic schizophrenic – was sentenced to an indeterminate term at a secure mental hospital.

Judge Jeremy Richardson said: "This case is as close to a case of murder that it is possible to get.

"You caused the death of two wholly innocent people.

"No one will ever know what possessed you to cause a head-on collision."

He said Spink was acutely mentally ill.

He had smoked cannabis just a few days before the tragedy, the court heard.