Pilot killed in horror M62 crash got married in Vegas just three months before

Ryanair pilots Matthew Greenhalgh and Jamie Fernandes both tragically died when their taxi was crushed between two lorries

18:25, 13 Jan 2026

Ryanair Captain Matthew Greenhalgh, 28, was killed in a crash on the M62 (Image: )

A Ryanair pilot was married in Vegas only three months before he was killed when his Uber was hit by a lorry. Matthew Greenhalgh, 28, and Jamie Fernandes, 24, both tragically died when the taxi which was taking them to Liverpool John Lennon Airport was crushed between two HGVs.

The driver of the lorry travelling behind them, Anthony Burns, failed to spot a queue of stationary traffic which had formed ahead of him amid a closure of the westbound carriageway of the M62[2].

While he was suspected of having fallen asleep at the wheel, he now claims he was 'effectively on autopilot' and 'did not register what was ahead of him until it was far, far too late'.

Liverpool Crown Court heard on Tuesday (January 13) that Uber driver Rashid Mehmood collected Mr Fernandes and Mr Greenhalgh from Luton Airport at around 1.30am on July 10 2024 in order to transport them to Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

He later reported his passengers 'immediately went to sleep' during the journey in his Toyota Auris, the ECHO reports. But Damian Nolan, prosecuting, described how "all of that was to change on the M62 as the Toyota headed westbound and neared Liverpool".

Approaching junction eight at Warrington West, signs on overhead gantries warned motorists to slow from 70mph to 60mph, and subsequently to 50mph and 40mph, due to an incident on the opposite carriageway.

Anthony Burns, of Headington Road in Upton, Wirral, aged 63(Image: Cheshire Police)

This led to a 'pretty big queue of traffic' near to the entry slip road, with the Uber coming to a stop behind a lorry.

CCTV footage showed both vehicles stationary for several seconds before the HGV being driven by Burns, of Headington Road in Upton, Wirral, ploughed into the back of the taxi, only braking less than one second before impact.

Mr Mehmood's car was then crushed between the two lorries, with Mr Fernandes and Mr Greenhalgh being left with injuries which were 'not survivable'. The taxi driver meanwhile 'remarkably survived'.

Mr Greenhalgh's widow, Hannah Greenhalgh, emotionally addressed the court from the witness box, saying in a statement: "From the first day, it felt like fate brought us together. We were meant to be.

He was most happy at home, drinking tea, eating biscuits and watching Big Bang Theory. His achievements never defined him. He stayed the Matt that I knew on the very first day.

"We got engaged in 2022 and married in Las Vegas in April 2024.

On the 10th of July 2024, before Matt left for work, I turned off my laptop, hugged him and kissed him goodbye. That was the last time. We would not have that chance again.

"That knock destroyed me.

At 27, after only three months married, I became a widow. My future vanished. I felt like I'd been dropped off in the dark with no guidance.

Matt's death was cruelly ironic. He got passengers home safely, yet he didn't make it home himself.

"I never got to say a proper goodbye. Only when I saw the wreckage did I truly believe he was gone.

He was my anchor. The impact of the 11th of July is everlasting. It's not the end of my grief.

Today, I hope it marks the beginning of the end of this undignified process. I know Matt would be proud of me, and I'm proud of myself too."

Senior First Officer Jamie Fernandes was also killed in the collision(Image: )

Matt's sister Emma also read a statement on behalf on the family, saying: "Our lives changed forever on the 11th of July 2024. There are no words that can describe the pain, loss and devastation we feel every day.

Matt was just 28 years old, an ambitious, intelligent, caring man with his whole life ahead of him."

Having qualified as a pilot aged 19, the statement added: "He showed this level of commitment to everything he did, whether, sports, academically or travelling the world. His absence has left a void in his family that can never be filled.

"We wake each morning with a crushing weight in our chests knowing he is no longer here. We mourn the future that was stolen from him and us, all of his hopes dreams and milestones turned into ash.

"The grief is constant and the trauma is something we carry with us every day.

We feel frustration and anger, knowing his death could have been prevented."

Mr Nolan detailed how his lorry was not found to have any defects which would have caused the crash, with the 63-year-old defendant having seemingly 'had an unobstructed view of the rear of the queueing traffic' for at least 500 metres prior to the scene of the collision.

Burns was similarly not found to have been using his mobile phone at the time and was not under the influence of drink or drugs. A tachograph unit fitted to his HGV showed he had been 'travelling at a steady 56mph' for 35 minutes prior to the incident, save for a 'short period of deceleration' around four minutes earlier.

Under interview, Burns answered no comment to all questions asked of him and 'provided no explanation for his manner of driving'. He has 16 previous convictions for 28 offences, including receiving a suspended prison sentence for arson in the 1990s.

Burns was also handed three penalty points in August 2021 for driving a HGV with an unsafe load after his lorry shed its cargo on the A18 near Scunthorpe.

With Judge Simon Medland KC having observed that Burns was 'riven by remorse' his counsel added: "That is an apposite way of putting the position.

There is very clear remorse and regret for the profound impact that his behaviour and actions have had upon the families of all the victims.

"In the intervening period, knowing that there are those who have lost family members, he too has suffered a great deal. He is empathising with those who have suffered and very much regrets, for their part, what he has done. He would do anything to go back in time.

He is, no doubt, not alone in that.

"He was effectively on autopilot. He went out that day to do his job. He has been a professional driver for more than 30 years.

He has never had an accident, either as a personal driver or in his professional capacity. He is, on any other day, a safe driver. On this particular occasion, he has driven dangerously and caused two deaths and serious injury.

"When one looks at what his driving was, we suggest that the gravamen of his offending is in the period of time in the immediate run up to the crash.

The vehicle had largely been driving at a steady speed for more than half an hour. That suggests that he was conscious and able to manoeuvre. Although he brakes far, far too late, one second before impact, he does brake, meaning that he was conscious.

"He should have been on notice that there was the potential for slower traffic ahead, and he did not respond to that.

He did not register what was ahead of him until it was far, far too late. There are enough vehicles with enough red lights ahead of him that he should have noticed it up to 20 seconds previously.

"In this case, what we have is a man doing his job and doing it safely, as he has done for 31 years previously, and just switching off for up to 20 seconds previously. The worst thing that can be said about the defendant's driving is that he had been warned by the matrix signs and he had 20 seconds to react, but he did not.

"He is supported today by a loving, caring family whose focus is on him, who are all alive to the impact on that side of the room [the public gallery where the victims' families were seated] being far greater.

The letters of reference and character advanced on his behalf all reinforce that this is a man who, after the period of time since the incident, has changed beyond recognition.

"He is keen and anxious that people do not leave this courtroom thinking he did not care or it did not have an impact on him. He will not live with it like they live with it, but live with it he will.

"These are awful cases, tragic cases, extremely tragic in circumstances of such bright, shining young things that have been taken away from the families. This defendant regrets what he did.

He did not go out to drive dangerously. He did not go out to drive a machine of death and mayhem, but each time one of us gets behind the wheel there is a risk.

"Here, for a few seconds, he did not notice what was going on. It is dangerous driving that gives him a substantial sentence of imprisonment that, at his age, will make it difficult, and, with his mental health, will make it difficult."

Burns admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and one of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Appearing in the dock wearing a black jacket over a white shirt and grey tie and sporting short grey hair, he appeared to shake his head as he was led to the cells after being jailed for 10 years.

Sentencing, Judge Medland said: "The middle of summer it may have been, but the weather[3] was appalling. Your own description of the rain was, it was torrential. It is obvious that that led to substantial surface water and spray and dangerous driving conditions, especially when you are driving a very heavy vehicle which takes a long time to stop.

"You were driving in the national speed limit comfortably, but the trouble was the prevailing road conditions, in terms of weather, and advisory speed limits indicated that, even driving at that speed, you were driving at a speed which was substantially above that which was safe.

You did not observe that there was a substantial queue of stationary or near stationary traffic ahead of you on what was, in reality, a virtually straight road.

"Your vehicle ploughed into the back of that queue, sandwiching the Toyota Auris driven by Mr Mehmood and killing, thereby, the two young men who were asleep in the back. They were Jamie Fernandes and Matthew Greenhalgh, 24 and 28 respectively, two airline pilots who Mr Mehmood was transporting from Luton to Liverpool.

"They were, as your learned counsel has said, bright young men with significant careers and a long life ahead of them. That was taken away from them by your dangerous driving.

"Nobody suggests for one moment that you set out that day to cause harm or injury, still less death, to anybody.

For decades by then, you had been a commercial driver and an experienced HGV man. You were not on your phone, you were not under the influence of drink or drugs.

"Whether you were on a sort of robotic autopilot, who knows? You do not know.

You are not able to say. One eyewitness thought that it was as if you had fallen asleep. Whether by virtue of that or whether you were just not paying attention, this was a lack of attention for a substantial period of time.

"You were driving at 56mph in a 40mph advisory in torrential rain, with heavy road water and spray.

This was a speed which was highly inappropriate for the prevailing weather conditions.

"In mitigation, there are a number of persuasive and valuable character references. A large number of good people speak very well of you as a man. You have, undoubtedly, genuine and profound remorse for the outcome of your dangerous driving.

"You had a pre-existing mental disorder which has been seriously exacerbated by the outcome of your actions, [and had] a major depressive episode.

Your driving record must be considered good, as opposed to bad. You have historic convictions for taking a vehicle without consent and driving while disqualified, but those are at a completely different stage of your life. You have one more recent conviction for an unsafe load.

"This dreadful, tragic episode killed two men and serious injured a third.

You have heard, and will have understood, the terrible and enduring impact which this episode had on the family and friends of Mr Fernandes and Mr Greenhalgh, and the enduring day to day impact it has on Mr Mehmood.

"The word grief does not quite sum up the feeling. There is always, of course, the oppressive guilt of the survivor, which you probably feel yourself. This sentence is not in any way a value of their lives.

That would be impossible.

The court must instead reach for what it sees as a just sentence in this case."

Burns will be required to serve at least two thirds of his prison term behind bars before becoming eligible for release.

He was banned from driving for 150 months and will be required to pass an extended retest before he is allowed back on the roads.

References

1. ^ James Holt (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
2. ^ M62 (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
3. ^ weather (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)