Twitter gag evokes M5 tragedy

Jimmy Carr has apologised after tweeting a joke about a car crash so soon after the M5 crash in which seven people died.

This afternoon, the comic tweeted: ‘A couple married for 66 yrs died within 3 days of each other. That's nothing. My grandparents died on exactly the same day... car crash.’

But the joke was immediately criticised by some of his 1.4million followers for being insensitive.

Typical was Lauren Boyle, who replied: ‘Seriously not cool Jimmy... especially after the M5 crash. You lack compassion – and a soul for that matter!’

Dawn Hackney, who lives in Taunton, near where the crash took place, wrote: ‘Considering my friend just lost both her grandparent in the #m5crash, a bit of forward thinking would be great.’ Carr soon realised his mistake, and deleted the tweet. He posted a new message saying: ‘Very bad timing by me. The joke was obviously not about recent tragic events. Apologies if any offence caused.’

Ms Hackney then replied: ‘Thank you, Terri and her family have gone through so much already x’

Another 51 people were injured in the 34-vehicle pile-up near junction 25 on Friday evening. Police say that whether a fireworks display next to the carriageway produced smoke that blinded drivers is a ‘major line of inquiry’.

Published: 6 Nov 2011