Ex-RAF pilot Richard Woods, who was killed alongside a Scots family in a tragic crash, was ‘under a lot of stress’ and four times over the legal drink-drive limit.

A drunk ex-RAF pilot who killed a Scots family after “deliberately” driving in the wrong direction on the M6 in a tragic crash has been pictured for the first time.

On October 15 last year, Richard Woods, 40, drove his Skoda in the opposite direction near Tenby, Cumbria. Drivers were forced to swerve as he approached before his car collided head-on with a Toyota, killing himself and four members of a family, including two children, reports the Mirror.

The victims, all from Glasgow and believed to have been travelling back from Legoland, were named as dad Jaroslaw Rossa, 42, his partner Jade McEnroe, 33, and two children Filip, 15, and Dominic, 7.

On Thursday, Cumbria Police said Woods, who was four times over the legal drink-drive limit and found with a two-thirds empty gin bottle, would have been charged with manslaughter had he survived.

Miss McEnroe’s seven-year-old son, Arran, was rescued by a workman who managed to smash the rear windscreen of the family’s Toyota Yaris with a jack before pulling him out. The youngster suffered injuries and was airlifted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.

The Mirror reports an unnamed source telling the Sun that Mr Woods was based at RAF Marham in Norfolk, where he was in charge of the F-35B Lightning flight simulator. They said: “There is no way a former RAF Tornado pilot would ever drive the wrong way down a motorway by mistake. There are suggestions he had been under a lot of stress and the assumption is he did it deliberately while his mind was unbalanced.”

During an inquest into the family’s deaths, Detective Sergeant Deborah Story of Cumbria Police’s serious road collision investigation unit said Woods would have been prosecuted on four counts of manslaughter had he lived.

She noted that the ex-pilot went from “putting himself” against larger vehicles – where only he would be likely to be harmed – to “putting himself” against smaller vehicles in which the “likelihood of harm to other people is significantly high”.

She added: “My assessment of all of the evidence was that Mr Woods deliberately caused the collision. Had Mr Woods survived, regardless of any injuries, I would have sought four charges of manslaughter.”

Woods, from Hexham, Northumbria, served in the RAF as a flight lieutenant before becoming a squadron leader during his 14-year long career. He left in 2019 and began working for BAE Systems as a lead contractor instructor pilot. The inquest heard Mr Woods had a history of anxiety and detrimental alcohol use – which he had received professional help for.

In tribute to the two children who were killed, Filip and Dominic, their mother Kamila said: “We are heartbroken at the passing of our beloved angels – Filip and Dominic. Filip was very intelligent, sensitive and full of love. We will never forget his smile, open arms, and the words ‘tuli, tuli’ (hugs, hugs).

“He was fascinated by computer games but also incredibly good at chess. He loved chemistry and dreamed of studying at the University of Glasgow. Dominic was always smiling, very resolute and sociable. He was extremely caring, always thinking of others first, and the first to help if someone was in trouble.

“Always surrounded by a group of friends of all ages. He loved dinosaurs and Pokemon, but most of all he loved penguins and dreamed of adopting one. Our lives will never be the same again.”

The parents of Ms McEnroe also paid tribute. They said: “Our beloved daughter Jade, you are so loved, and we will miss you every day. You are a very much-loved mummy to Arran.” Arran’s father said: “I would like to thank everyone for their kind messages, to the emergency services and the members of the public that assisted at the scene.”

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