No jail for taxi driver who caused death of woman outside Coventry wedding reception A TAXI driver has been spared jail for causing the death of a woman in a crash after a wedding reception near Coventry.
Louise Jane Acton, aged 31, had just left a party at Coombe Abbey Hotel last summer when she was hit by a private hire car.
She died instantly after being struck by a Vauxhall Zafira while walking along Brinklow Road, near the entrance to the hotel and park.
Ms Acton, of Middlewich, Cheshire, suffered head and chest injuries at about 1.30am on Sunday August 7.
At Leamington Magistrates Court, Krzysztof Karnafel, aged 35, of Montvale Gardens, Leicester, pleaded guilty to causing death while driving without insurance.
He was handed a community order for one year with 40 hours of unpaid work, disqualified from driving for a year, and ordered to pay costs of £100.
Malcolm Stoddart, prosecuting, told the court how Ms Acton had been at the wedding party and walked out after having an argument with her partner.
She came out of the main drive of Coombe Abbey and was walking along the grass verges of Brinklow Road towards Coventry.
Karnafel, who failed to renew his taxi licence and insurance, had just picked up four people from the same wedding reception for a pre-arranged booking to take them back to Leicester. The court also heard how Ms Acton’s mum was driving to Coombe Abbey to pick her up and had passed her without knowing it was her daughter.
Mr Stoddart said: “The witnesses in the private hire vehicle were aware of Louise and had contact with her during the evening. They were aware she had been drinking and had become argumentative.
“One witness said the defendant was driving at 50mph.
‘‘In his statement he says: ‘Just out of nowhere a girl appeared in the middle of the road – maybe a metre away from the central markings. I don’t think he had enough time to brake.’
“Another taxi driver was driving in the opposite direction and saw her silhouette in the head lights of an oncoming vehicle which was the defendant’s car.
“It would appear the defendant failed to renew his licence when it expired in June and at the time of this fatal collision he was driving uninsured.”
Mark Parry, defending, said: “He accepts he caused the death, sadly, of this lady.
‘‘The circumstances are quite tragic.
“At the time of the collision Ms Acton was already in the road at the time of the collision.
‘‘One witness who was a passenger in Karnafel’s taxi says: ‘We turned right onto the main road. We were only travelling for two minutes and the next thing I know the windscreen was smashed and we came to a stop’.”
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